A Push in the Right Direction (Or Several)
by PinkKoala213
Summary: Ten people, two in particular, and one goal. All it took was a push in the right direction: or several. Add some nosy friends and you get debatably regrettable decisions, eye-opening revelations, and way too many awkward situations for anyone's good. Pairings include Grayza, Nalu, Gajevy, Lyredy, Jeltear, Hibicana, and Freed/Mira/Laxus. Highschool AU.
1. Dilemma

Hey guys! Sorry for my lack of activity on here. School has been crazy, and life has been getting pretty real...but anyway, I'm glad to be back!

As mentioned in my latest Grayza Collection chapter, I deleted my entry for the Teamwork prompt of Grayza Week to make it a multi-chapter story! I am beyond excited to write this because high school AUs are the best. As of right now the story will be of a similar style to my original Teamwork chapter; for those of you that remember it you'll have to bear with me, as some parts later on will be very similar to what I originally wrote. It will also be pretty dragged out because why not. Ships include Grayza (of course), Nalu, Gale, Lyvia, Jeltear, Hibicana and, based on reviews, a Freed/Mira/Laxus love triangle!

In addition to updating this story I will also be active on my Grayza Collection :)

Anyway, enough announcements. I hope you all enjoy chapter one, and leave a review if you did! Thank you all for your support and Grayza love :3 You guys are the best!

* * *

Gray leaned forward in his seat, pencil carefully extended. He brought the object forward and flicked the long red locks that hung in front of his desk.

As soon as he did so the girl in front of him brought her hand to the same spot, attempting to swat whatever touched her hair away. Just as she turned around to send him an unappreciative glare he leaned back in his seat, pretending as though he had done nothing. She turned back around, shaking her head.

Gray smirked. Messing with Erza was always entertaining, and even more so during class. He raised his pencil again, this time spinning her hair around the object so many times till it resembled a ratty, scarlet lump. He leaned back in his seat, beaming proudly at his creation.

Erza put her hand to the spot, feeling her tangled hair and the protruding pencil. She turned to him just enough that he could see the unamused glare on her face. "Gray, what the hell?!" she hissed under her breath, careful not to attract unnecessary attention from her classmates beside her.

"What? I didn't do anything." Gray lied, widening his eyes innocently.

"You're so irritating." she growled. She took the pencil from her hair and threw it on the ground. She turned back to the front of the room, trying to smooth out her scarlet locks.

Gray smirked to himself again. He grabbed his pencil from the floor to flick the same spot once more, when a loud voice interjected his thoughts.

"Like I said, irony is essential to theme of the novel...Did you get that, Gray?" Gray looked past Erza to the front of the room, meeting Mr. Clive's expectant stare.

The navy haired boy cleared his throat, sitting up in his seat. "Erm, could you repeat that, Mr. Clive?" he asked.

"I could. And while I'm doing something for you, you can stop engaging Ms. Scarlet in your _silly antics_." the orange-haired man joked. Gray's face reddened as his classmates laughed in agreement. Mr. Clive turned his attention back to the rest of the class. "Alright, get into pairs and make a list of ironic situations that you can submit in...about ten minutes." he decided. With that the class broke into a hubbub of voices, everyone discussing examples.

"Okay Scarlet, what do ya got?" Gray asked, watching as Erza turned around, pencil in hand and notebook open to a blank page.

"Why do you always assume we're partners?" she asked smartly.

"Well, other than the fact that you sit right in front of me and that we're better than average friends, I need a good grade in this class. And," he leaned forward with a cheesy smile, "you _always_ have the best ideas."

She shook her head, but couldn't help the smile on her face. "Gray Fullbuster, your sarcasm is about as obvious _and_ annoying as Natsu's thing for Lucy."

"He has a thing for Lucy?" Gray feigned shock, to which Erza rolled her eyes. He laughed as she began writing eagerly into her notebook, intent on ignoring him.

"Excuse me, I believe this assignment is to be worked on in pairs." he remarked sarcastically.

She nodded. "Alright, then. Do you have any examples of irony, Gray Fullbuster?"

"Do any of my 'silly antics' fall under this category?" he asked sarcastically.

She pursed her lips in thought. "Well, I think it's ironic you continue to pester me regardless of the fact that your elementary ways of _flirting_ won't get you anything but my annoyance."

A blush crept along Gray's face, but he scoffed at her words regardless. "'Elementary' ways of flirting? I'll have you know I get mine, thank you."

"Oh, and who did you 'get' last? Wasn't it that thing with Juvia?" Erza commented curtly.

Gray frowned. "We don't talk about it."

"What, you didn't appreciate all those pictures she took of you? Or that oddly detailed Sims family-"

"- _We don't talk about it_!"

She smirked. "I guess we shouldn't."

"At least she's not all _prim_ and _proper_."

Erza's smirk disappeared. "What's wrong with-"

Gray suddenly leaned forward and took Erza's hands. Caught off guard Erza stared at him in surprise, an embarrassed blush on her cheeks. She was forced to gaze into his eyes, a mimicking grin on his face. "What are you doi-"

Gray held a hand in front of her face. "Shh, don't speak." He closed his eyes, "I love you, and you love me." He sighed dramatically. "But I can't be with you because you're too good for me, and it truly breaks my heart to tell you that." He smiled at her expectantly, waiting for her to crack up. But instead she frowned at him, his mockery of a certain blue haired boy in their grade clearly the furthest thing from being funny.

Gray frowned in confusion. "Isn't that how Jellal broke up with you last time?" he asked, not sure as to why she wasn't laughing.

"...Yes. But it's not a joking matter. He's different now."

Gray scoffed, pulling away from her. He knew exactly where this was going. "Oh, excuse me. I completely forgot that you're in yet another _perfect_ relationship with him." he apologized.

His voice was dripping with sarcasm, but even so Erza couldn't help but feel her chest swell up with pride. "Yes, you forgot." she nodded.

Gray saw the glazed look in her eyes, and rolled his own. "At least I didn't forget about your last breakup...or three."

Erza frowned at his remark. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He smirked to himself, an idea sparking his thoughts. "You know what?" He leaned forward, jabbing a finger at her. "Other than the fact that you both run the debate team, I bet you don't know anything about him."

She scoffed. "Please, Gray. I know him very well."

"Alright, then." He raised a challenging eyebrow. "What's his favorite color?"

Erza froze. "…Um, what?"

"His favorite color, Erza."

Her mind was completely blank. In all her relationships with Jellal, they had never shared that type of information with each other. "That's easy, it's…" Her eyes widened, her lack of knowledge evident.

"It's red." Gray answered.

Erza scoffed. "Jellal and I don't waste time on-"

"His favorite food?"

"I- his what?"

"His favorite song?"

"Well-"

"-His number for soccer?!"

"It's not soccer season, so-"

Gray leaned back in his seat, hand over his face. "Oh my god. You know nothing about him, do you?" he asked, amused.

"I-I don't-" Erza stammered, but shook her head. "So what if I don't know? Jellal is a great person."

"'Great?'" Gray snorted. "He hasn't changed at all: not since your last breakup, and definitely not now."

"How would you know?!"

"You've been 'dating' for three weeks."

"So?!"

"You don't even know his favorite color, so how do you know that he's changed?"

She frowned in confusion. "I-"

The bell signaling the end of class chimed loudly, ending their conversation. Gray watched as Erza ripped their paper from her notebook. "You owe me one, Fullbuster." she huffed, passing their paper to the front of the room.

"Only if I get an A for today." he replied. "Are you coming to lunch?"

The redhead nodded. "As usual. But I need to speak with Jellal first."

"Make sure you ask what his favorite color is." Gray snickered.

Erza stopped, scowling at him. "Okay, what's your problem?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why do you care so much?"

Gray groaned in annoyance. "Because you're making the same mistake! He's exactly the same, and you know it."

She shook her head. "You wouldn't understand." She picked up her backpack. "Maybe you should start acting like him. You might get a normal girl for once." she admonished, turning away from him.

Gray frowned this time, insulted. " _I_ should act like _him_?! Why would I-"

"Tell Juvia I say hi." she remarked sarcastically, sending him a final glare before leaving the room.

He scowled after her, fists clenched in annoyance. "Why is she always such a b-"

"What was that?" an expectant voice asked.

He turned around to see Freed and Loke walking toward him. "What was what?" Gray asked, tossing his backpack over his shoulder.

"You know what I'm talking about. You were flirting with Erza that whole time." Loke smirked.

"What? I was not!"

"Right. Playing with her hair and bickering with her isn't the least bit… _flirtatious_." He said the last word with a suggestive arch of his eyebrow.

"Tell me what part of that was flirtatious, you weirdo."

"Mr. Clive called you out on it!"

"He's Cana's dad, he always calls me out!" Gray defended again.

"Okay, you may have been flirting with her at the beginning of class, but by the end you were definitely arguing." Freed decided.

Gray rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that's more like it." he agreed as they walked out of the room.

"Anyway, I'll catch you guys later." Freed stated, turning the other way.

"You're not eating with us?" Gray asked.

Freed shook his head. "It's Wednesday, I'm tutoring."

"Or maybe you're just afraid to start a fight with Laxus." Loke added jokingly.

Freed turned to the orange haired boy, frowning. "What on earth would I have to fight him for?"

"The fact that you both like Mira."

"Don't be ridiculous."

"There's nothing ridiculous about the truth, Greenie!"

The green haired boy glared annoyedly at Loke, before turning to leave, "See you guys later."

"See ya!" they called, waving goodbye. Loke turned to Gray, smirking. "I don't care what he says. _I_ still think you're flirting with her."

Gray rolled his eyes. "And you're _always_ right about everything, huh?" he joked, elbowing Loke in the ribs. "You're dumb as shit."

"Oh really? Look me in the eyes and tell me that you weren't flirting with the _angry_ and _aggressive_ Erza Scarlet." Loke prodded, poking an obnoxious finger into Gray's arm with every word.

Gray felt his face redden, but shook it off. "Yeah, well who has the _hots_ for Aries?" he asked smartly.

Loke scowled at him. "We agreed that was private. I still don't know if I like her or Lucy."

"Well, unlike you, my feelings are clear. And I _definitely_ don't have any for Erza," Gray continued, a bitter scowl forming on his face. "Especially not after today."

* * *

Erza walked slowly down the hall, one hand gripped tightly around her backpack strap. Gray's words echoed through her head.

' _You're making the same mistake.'_

' _He's exactly the same, and you know it.'_

Gray always had his comments about her relationship. But this was the first time he was ever rude about it.

 _Why does it matter to him?_

It was true, she wasn't able to answer any of Gray's questions about Jellal. But those things were trivial to her. The only thing that she cared about was despite their past relationships, Jellal was different now, and that was why they were together again. Isn't that enough?

She nodded. It _is._ she decided, walking to meet her boyfriend.

* * *

Ultear Milkovich groaned in annoyance as she felt a familiar hand slap the top of her head. "Jellal!" she scolded as she winced in slight pain, holding the now-sore spot on her head.

"You should be thanking me. I'm keeping your reflexes sharp." the tall, blue haired boy snickered, appearing in front of her.

Ultear rolled her eyes as she pulled down her lock, opening the metal locker door. Jellal leaned against the locker next to hers, watching the dark haired girl with a good-natured smile. He eyed one of the books she pulled out. "Physics 2? That's crazy stuff."

"Aren't you in that class too?" the dark haired girl pointed out, raising an eyebrow at him.

He scratched the back of his head, embarrassed. "Oh, right." he chuckled awkwardly.

"Did you need something?" Ultear asked. Jellal gave her a blank expression. "You came to my locker…" she continued.

"Oh, right, I had to talk to you." Jellal recalled.

Ultear frowned in confusion. What could he possibly have to tell her?

"I've been thinking about us a lot, and…" He looked into her eyes, "I think we-"

"-Jellal!"

The two turned to see Erza Scarlet walking towards them. For once Ultear breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the redhead. While she didn't particularly like Erza for one reason or another, she was glad that the red haired girl had spared her from whatever Jellal had to say. She turned back to her locker, hoping to get to lunch as quickly as possible.

Jellal turned to his girlfriend, clearing his throat awkwardly. "Erza, hey." he greeted.

Erza noticed how close the two were standing. A bitter feeling of deja vu passed over her. "Oh, I apologize. Am I interrupting something?" she asked cautiously, ignoring the thoughts that raced through her brain.

"No, of course not!" he nodded.

"Well, good! I need to talk to you."

Jellal scratched the back of his head. "Actually, I need to talk to you too."

"Oh! Do you want to go first?" Erza asked. Ultear almost rolled her eyes at Erza's eagerness, although there was no reason for her to be that irritated.

"Well, by all means." he shrugged, smiling at Erza.

Ultear shut her locker, gaining the couple's attention. "I don't want to interrupt you guys." she stated, giving each of them a nod before leaving them alone.

While Erza immediately turned back around, Jellal was still staring after Ultear. Her chest sank the slightest bit, feeling the same wave of deja vu. "What were you guys talking about?" she asked curiously.

Jellal snapped back to Erza. "What?" he asked, and then shrugged, "Oh, uh, nothing. Just physics stuff."

' _He's exactly the same as before.'_

She ignored his forced smile. She could tell he was lying. "So I was talking to Gray during English, and he made me realize some flaws in our relationship."

"Gray Fullbuster?" Jellal repeated.

Erza nodded. "Gray always has good advice. I feel we wouldn't be as close as we are if I hadn't listened to him." She pursed her lips. "But today was the first day he was rude about it, and I had to ask...is it bad I don't know your favorite color?"

Jellal's expression darkened. "You go to him for our problems, huh?"

"Well, we're friends, but that's beside the point-" She noted Jellal's grimace. "What?"

"Look, Erza," he spoke, placing a hand on each of her arms, "I don't know if I wanna do this anymore."

She frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You always go to Gray for our problems, instead of talking directly to me."

"I mean I talk to him, but...Gray's our friend!" she continued, the sinking in her chest getting heavier.

"Then why do I feel like I'm competing with him?"

"What do you mean?"

"That's what I had to talk to you about." He looked to the side, not meeting her gaze. "I don't think we should date anymore."

"W-what?" she stammered. This exact situation had already happened before, but she still felt the same bitter feeling of rejection. She frowned. "Does this have to do with _her_?"

"What?! No, I-" Jellal turned back to her, his expression slightly softened. "I feel like we have different interests."

"We take similar classes and extracurriculars."

"And that made this seem like a good idea. But right now," he gave her a sad smile, "I think we should take a break."

She stared at him in disbelief, but in the back of her mind she knew this was bound to happen. Her thoughts immediately went to Gray: he had said all those rude things, but in the end, he had been right. Her relationship with Jellal had failed yet again, another tally to the list. A wave of anger and embarrassment surged through her body, all directed at the navy haired boy.

"That's fine with me." she snapped, quickly leaving before Jellal could see her cloudy eyes.

"Erza!" he called after her, but she didn't turn around. She needed air.

She made her way out of sight, holding her sleeve against her teary eyes. Her thoughts were racing through her head and her emotions were quickly exposing themselves, but one thing was certain:

This was all Gray's fault.

* * *

Alright, there's chapter one! Guys I am so happy to be writing this, I love this ship. Don't forget to leave a review! Also I chose that specific cover art for the story cos it makes me crack up, like how hilarious do those two look? But if someone has a specific image/drawing of Gray and Erza let me know! Have a great day :)

Until next time,

PinkKoala213


	2. Quite the Predicament

Hey guys! So yes I know it's been a couple weeks, and for that I apologize. Between difficult chemistry tests and school events I haven't had time to write. I'll try updating faster next time, eek!

Seeing as Thanksgiving just passed, whether you celebrate it or not I wanted to say that I'm thankful for each and every one of you, and your follow/favorites/reviews! Each one means a lot. Thank you for your patience as well. Y'all are the Grayza fans and readers a girl could ask for. I hope you all have a great week, and without further ado, here's Chapter 2!

* * *

"Yo, Scarlet, you listening?" Gray repeated, poking the eraser of his pencil intrusively into Erza's arm.

She flinched, but didn't turn around. "No, I'm not." she spoke coldly.

Ignoring her, Gray continued. "What'd you get for number two? I think it's 439.8 Joules, but I don't-"

"I'm not helping you." she stated dismissively.

He frowned. "It was just a question, I don't see how-"

"I said I'm not helping you!" she snapped.

"What the hell, why are you so angry?" Gray's frown deepened. Erza, on the other hand, remained face forward, completely disregarding his question. "Was it something I did?" Still silent. "What?" More silence. "Whaaaaaat?" Gray drawled, gently nudging Erza's arm with his fist.

She flinched once more. "Gray, could you stop talking to me?" she hissed.

He scoffed, crossing his arms. "Alright." he huffed, walking back to his seat in the corner of the room.

From across the room Lyon shook his head, having viewed the entire interaction. He had never seen his friends act like that; sure, Erza always got mad at Gray and Natsu from time to time. But this was different: it seemed like Erza actually had a reason to be mad at the dark haired boy. He turned back to his homework, when he heard a frustrated exhale beside him.

He looked to the right and saw the girl in the seat next to him, Juvia, staring indignantly at the same couple across the room. Lyon was best friends with Gray, and well aware of Gray's extremely brief thing with her. But beyond all the complaints, rumors, and stories, he had never talked to her himself.

"You okay?" Lyon asked cautiously, noting the intensity of her glare.

Juvia's lips pressed into a tight line. "No. Juvia isn't okay."

He sighed internally: the rumors about her 3rd person speech were true. "Why?" He followed her glare. "Gray and Erza? What about them?"

She shook her head, turning her gaze to Lyon. "Juvia does not like them. But she knows Lyon is friends with them, so she won't continue." she nodded.

"Why does it matter to you?" Lyon shrugged.

Juvia rapidly shook her head. "Juvia sees how Gray flirts with her. Juvia is well aware. Soon Gray will ask Erza out, and they will get married and have seven babies-" She paused long enough for Lyon to see the genuine concern on her face, "Juvia can't bear to see it happen."

Lyon leaned forward expectantly. "So…? What's it to you?" he repeated, confused.

"What's it to Juvia? Excuse you, but Juvia dated him!" she spat angrily.

"Dated." he repeated.

Juvia frowned in confusion. "What?"

"That's past tense."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"I don't know what it means to you, but it's past tense." he shrugged, nonchalantly turning his attention back to the chemistry problems Mr. Conbolt had assigned.

This time Juvia was staring, casting a scrutinizing eye over the white haired boy while he remained unaware of her inspections. She had only known him as Gray's friend, and she hadn't even really talked to him till now- yet he had the nerve to question her love life?!

Nevertheless she gave him a final, curious stare, before turning back to her work.

* * *

"Alright, it's been four days. Where could Erza even be?" Lucy asked, concerned, as she joined their lunch table.

"She was in Calc." Natsu spoke through his stuffed mouth.

"Yeah, she was in English too." Lyon added, Loke nodding in agreement.

"Well if she's here, why hasn't she been eating with us?" the blonde pointed out.

"I texted her, but she hasn't replied." Mira shrugged.

"They don't have a debate meeting today. And I saw Jellal before getting here; she's not with him." Levy added.

"Who knows, maybe they _finally_ broke up." Gray added, his tone clearly negative. While his friends were pondering Erza's whereabouts he was fuming. The redhead had not only sent him more glares than usual during their morning classes, but also flat-out ignored anything and everything he had tried to say to her.

"Jellal and Erza? Yeah right, she wouldn't let it get to that point." Gajeel joked.

"That's true, but haven't they dated and broken up several times before?" Levy pointed out.

"Three freakin times." Gray nodded. "You'd think she'd realize something this time around." he muttered.

Natsu scrunched his nose. "What's your problem? Did you lose your favorite shirt again?"

"Shut up, barf bag."

"What's that, droopy eyes?!"

"I said I'll punch you if you say that again!"

"Oh really? Well go right ahead-"

"HEY!" Cana interjected, holding her hands between the two of them. "Jeez, where's Erza when we need her?!" she sighed, and then turned to Gray. "Really, what's wrong with you? It sounds like you're gonna talk shit about Erza."

Gray shook his head. "I'm not, we're just...not seeing eye-to-eye right now." He continued, explaining the harsh words Erza had spoken to him the other day. "And she told me I should act like Jellal." he concluded with a frown.

Cana arched an eyebrow at him. "So you're mad at Erza because she compared you to...her boyfriend?"

Gray looked down at his lunch in embarrassment. "...Yeah." he murmured.

The brunette cackled loudly. "Gray Fullbuster, that is by far one of the _stupidest_ things I have heard you say!"

"No, it's rude. What's so good about that guy anyway?" he grumbled, forcefully ripping open the bag of chips in his hands.

Gajeel leaned forward, stealing a chip, "We could start with his good grades-"

"-mine are just as good!" Gray countered.

"He dresses really nicely." Lucy commented.

"So do I!"

"Gray, you still wear that stupid purple Hawaiian shirt." Cana snickered.

"And it's not just that, it's just...his clothes stay on." the blonde explained, referring to the dark haired boy's unusual stripping habit. She nodded to Gray's torso, calling attention to the absence of the dress shirt he had had on earlier.

Realizing it as well, the dark haired boy crossed his arms over his white v-neck, annoyed. "That's a dumb reason anyway." he grumbled, hoping to dismiss the subject, but his friends continued.

"He's good at soccer." Levy added.

"And really nice to people." Loke nodded.

"He's also very organized." Levy agreed.

"And I'm not any of those things?!" Gray pointed out.

"I don't know Gray, he probably has a huge dick." Cana chimed in.

"And I don't?!" Gray responded on impulse, but immediately smacked himself in the face as soon as the words left his mouth. Their table erupted into roaring laughter as Gray's face reddened in embarrassment. "I didn't mean to say _that_ \- well, it's not _true,_ er, _or_ false, but..." The laughs got louder, and Gray shook his head. "What does that have to do with anything anyway?!"

Cana shrugged. "I guess you can ask Erza, huh?" She stuck her hand out to Gray, his blue phone in her grip. "You call her."

Narrowing his eyes at her haughty smirk, Gray snatched the device from her hand. "Fine, I will. And you'll all see that everything Jellal has, I have too!" he nodded, putting the ringing phone to his ear.

"Wait, I don't get it," Lyon interrupted, "Don't you _not_ want to be like him?"

Gray thought on his comment, and shrugged. "I just need to prove a point."

Lyon shook his head, "But I don't get it. Why are you getting so worked up about Jellal and Erza? Erza's like..our friend." he pointed out, taking a bite of his sandwich.

"I value her opinion! I don't want her comparing me to that blue haired weirdo-"

"-Yeah, I mean we're all close to her, but why would you go out of your way-"

"-Oh my god! You don't like her, do you?" Lucy gasped, her eyes wide.

Gray choked on his spit. "I- what?! Me? Like...Erza?" he spat, shocked. He shook his head vigorously. "She's crazy!"

"That's why you're always messing with her in Calc!" Natsu nodded, wagging his finger at Gray.

Gray shook his head frantically, "No-"

"-You always talk with her after class." Lyon pointed out.

"-And you guys fight like an old married couple!" Mira squealed.

While Gray stared at his friends in disbelief they stared back in anticipation, waiting for him to admit his feelings for the redhead. His face reddened, "She's our friend, I don't…" He shook his head. "I don't like her. Seriously!"

He was faced with a table of questioning stares. But after a while, Lucy spoke up. "I guess that's true. Besides, she's dating Jellal." the blonde decided.

Gray felt his blush recede as he nodded in agreement. "She's dating Jellal! Exactly!" he sighed, relieved. The confused emotions he felt earlier disappeared completely: Erza was his friend, and always would be.

"But Gray and Erza would be hilarious, am I right?" Natsu joked, earning a laugh from everyone else.

"And impossible. It's hard enough to like her as a friend, right?," Gray responded, shaking his head, "I mean, let's be real: she's always angry, bossy, loud, and just fuckin' crazy." He laughed awkwardly at his words, but Lucy gave him a frown. "What?" he asked.

Lucy opened her mouth, her eyes angry. "You're a fucking _asshole_ , you stupid, _stripping_ idiot!"

Everyone flinched in surprise. They exchanged confused expressions: the voice that had spoken was not Lucy's bubbly voice, but rather an electronic, but just as angry, one.

Gray paled as his gaze shifted to his outstretched hand that rested on the table.

His phone was on, and worst of all: Erza had answered.

 _Fuck._

"E-Erza, hang on-" Gray stammered, but he was cut off by the dissonant tone that told him she had hung up. Gray stared at the blank screen in disbelief.

How long had she been listening for?

* * *

Levy sighed exasperatedly, clicking her red pen closed. "Gajeel, this analysis is shallow at best. You're supposed to explain your findings, not simply state them." she reviewed, handing Gajeel back a smudgy, crumpled loose leaf paper. "And take care of your homework. Folders are only 25 cents."

"I think someone had a little too much _critical_ juice this morning." Gajeel grumbled, taking the paper back from her. "And besides, this paper is extremely well taken care of!"

"It's ripping in four different places."

"That's six less than ten."

"What- that doesn't make sense!" Levy frowned, but shook her head. "Enough of that. Onto more important things: as my peer editor, what were your thoughts on my paper? she asked eagerly.

Gajeel nodded, handing Levy's paper back to her. "Well, it was insightful, well analyzed," Levy nodded appreciatively at each compliment, "...and definitely _not_ about Gray and Erza's drama today."

She groaned frustratedly as she leafed through the pages of her essay. "Gajeel, you didn't make _any_ margin notes!"

"That's not important." He leaned forward. "Talk about awkward, huh?" he snickered.

"We're not discussing this now. Gray and Erza can figure out their own issues; it's none of our business."

"But he told her off! Who even does that, to _Erza_ of all people?! Freakin' HILARIOUS!" Gajeel erupted into a loud laughter.

Levy, on the other hand, didn't find the earlier encounter as funny as Gajeel did. "Well, now that you mention it, wasn't Gray oddly...aggressive?"

Gajeel raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"He's a pretty laid back person. But when he was talking about it today, I don't know...it sounded like he cared about Erza's thoughts on him."

"Like he cared?" Gajeel repeated. He stared at her thoughtfully, but then shook his head, a sarcastic smile on his face. "Okay, we're getting back to work." he stated, turning back to his desk.

"What? I was agreeing with you! And besides, you were the one that wanted to discuss this!" Levy protested.

"Yeah, but you're getting into...feelings and stuff. I don't do that shit."

Levy watched as he turned back to his paper, the disappointment on her face unnoticed by the black haired boy next to her. _You never do, huh?_

He turned back to her, nodding at his paper. "So, what can I do for next time?"

"You could start by using a dictionary."

"Hey!"

* * *

Lucy sighed in relief as she heard the familiar chimes of the ringing school bell, thankful that the long day was finally over. Books pressed against her chest she walked briskly to her locker, hoping to leave the building as fast as she possibly could. She had not only gotten a C- on her calc quiz, but also a stomach ache from the stash of chocolate in her backpack, a stern scolding from Ms. Porlyusica during Earth Science, and above all that lunch was a _disaster-_

A hand tapped her shoulder. "Hey Luce, can I get a ride home?" an ecstatic voice chirped behind her.

 _Right. He was here too._

Lucy watched as Natsu stepped beside her, unlocking the locker next to hers. While she had control over most parts of her life, Natsu was her unpredictable variable. Whether it was his infinite appetite, his loud talking, or his unclear feelings for her, she never knew what to expect from him.

 _Wait._

 _Unclear feelings?_

Shaking off her light blush she turned to her own metal door. "Natsu, you live two blocks away from school." Lucy pointed out, spinning a finger around her lock. "Besides, don't you get like...carsick?"

The pink haired boy turned to her. "Well, yeah, but my ankles hurt from practice yesterday, it's too bright outside, and your car has so many snacks-"

She turned to him, eyes wide. "What snacks?! My car doesn't have any!" she asked, hoping he wouldn't catch her lie.

"The ones in the trunk!" He chuckled to himself, dumping several books into his locker. "I did think they were a little out-of-reach, but I figured if I had granola bars that good, I'd hide them too!" The pink haired boy laughed to himself once more. Lucy groaned internally, realizing that Natsu had found her well-hidden box of mint chocolate Clif bars.

"Natsu, those were mine! I thought we agreed on not taking food from my secret stashes!" she complained.

"I know, I know, but I wasn't the only one who was hungry. Gray was too!"

"Gray?"

"Well, after lunch we have history, and he said he was starving." he shrugged, "And seeing as your car was parked close to school, I decided to take things into my own hands and get us snacks."

"But Gray ate during lunch."

"I guess he lost his appetite after that whole ordeal with Erza."

Lucy pursed her lips. "Speaking of which, what even was that? Gray sounded really angry, and then Erza heard everything…"

Natsu shrugged. "It's just more of the same. They've fought like that since we were little."

"But didn't Gray seem…I don't know, angrier than usual about the whole thing?"

He furrowed his eyebrows at her. "What are you saying?"

Lucy shook her head. "I don't know, the whole thing is pretty weird to me. Gray never gets caught up in little things, but he seemed really angry that Erza compared him to Jellal, which isn't even that big of a deal. And he and Erza usually get along really well, so I-"

"Hey, Luce? You're babbling."

Lucy's brow twitched in annoyance. She pinched her nails into her palm, fighting the urge to smack Natsu right then and there.

"So? Can I get a ride or what?" Natsu asked again, eagerly looking into her eyes.

Lucy sighed internally, before turning to Natsu with an unamused expression. "Fine. But only if you stop taking my snacks!"

He pouted at her, and for a second, Lucy felt in control. She was making the rules, and he was following them! She almost smiled, but as soon as she did Natsu reached out and grabbed the car keys that were hanging from the hook in her locker. "Sweet, I'll meet ya there!" he decided, and ran off.

Lucy smacked her forehead. Natsu was definitely the unknown factor in her life, but one thing was certain: he always found a way to annoy her.

* * *

So there it was, the debut of Lucy, Levy, Gajeel, Natsu, Cana...basically most of the gang. I hope you enjoyed the little bits of Lyvia, Gale, and Nalu, and don't worry, their stories develop too! Anyway, do leave a review if you enjoyed, and I'll see ya next chapter! :)

-PinkKoala213


	3. Slight Resolution

Hey everyone! I do apologize for the lateness of this chapter. If you read my latest Grayza Collection chapter, you know of my recent addiction to Pokemon Reborn...wowee it's a great game. I hope you all enjoy, and leave a review if you did! I'll be uploading the next chapter sometime this weekend, so stay tuned for that!

* * *

"Who has the skull, who has the skull?!" Gajeel shouted, aggressively slamming his fingers into the multicolored buttons that decorated his controller.

Lyon furrowed his brows in concentration. "Natsu, cover me!" he shouted.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Natsu shouted back, leaning forward in his seat.

"Natsu, you're on the other side of the village, you idiot." Gajeel snickered.

"I HAVE THE SKULL!" Gray cheered. He slammed a button on his controller, watching his box on the TV screen intensely.

"Not this time! We have you cornered, Gray!" Natsu countered, a victorious smirk on his face.

"Think again, Slant Eyes! Gajeel is right behind you; we're gonna win!" Gray responded, grinning proudly as he watched the events play on the TV screen.

As if on cue, the crack of a gunshot sounded through the speakers. Natsu stared at the screen in disbelief, watching as a burst of flames surrounded his character. "WHAT?! THIS GAME IS RIGGED!" he and Lyon shouted in anger, as Gray and Gajeel high-fived.

"Don't be so salty. I can't help being this good." Gray smirked, shrugging casually.

"Right. We'll see who's salty after this round." Lyon grumbled.

Natsu groaned in frustration. "This is why I _hate_ videogame Saturdays!"

"Get out of here, videogames are the only thing you're good at." Gajeel admonished.

"Along with cleaning out fridges." Gray added, nodding to the several bags of empty food scattered across the table in front of them. They laughed while Natsu crossed his arms, pouting.

"Whatever. I don't care if I'm on a team, I'm taking you all down!" Natsu decided, and they began another intense round. But above the exploding grenades and helicopter whirring, another sound was heard: the friendly chimes of a ringing phone.

"Hey, what's that?" Lyon asked, his eyes still on the screen.

"Nice try, Lyon. Quit trying to distract us." Gajeel replied.

"No, really, someone is being called at this very moment." Lyon insisted. They quieted down just enough to hear the trill of an incoming call.

"I thought we agreed on silent phones during videogame Saturdays!" Natsu complained, eyes glued to the screen.

"Whose is it?!" Gajeel repeated, his annoyance obvious.

Gray nodded in agreement, "Seriously, whoever it is, they need to-" He looked down towards his knee. "Oh, shit." Resting next to his knee was his phone that was, in fact, ringing. And more than that, his screen was lit up with none other than a picture of Erza.

 _Erza's calling?_

"It's still ringing!" Lyon continued.

"I-it's mine." Gray told them, hesitantly picking up the phone. Swiping a nervous finger across the screen, he held the device to his ear. "Um, h-hello?" he spoke, voice shaky.

"What?" came Erza's surprised voice on the other end.

Gray immediately jumped, frightened by her sharp exclamation. "Um, what?"

"Is this some sort of joke?"

"N-no."

"This sounds like Gray, why would I- oh, shit." She took a deep breath. "I didn't intend to call you, your name just happened to be next to someone else's."

"Well, while I have you here, I-"

"Gray, why the fuck are you standing still?! Help me out!" Gajeel shouted.

"Yeah, throw that, throw that!" Lyon shouted encouragingly to Natsu. An explosion followed immediately as the round came to a close. Gray stood up, setting his controller down.

"What the hell is this?!" Gajeel spat, stretching a hand out to Gray.

"Do the next round without me; this is important." he apologized, and left to the kitchen. Ignoring Gajeel's shouts and Natsu and Lyon's cheers, Gray brought the phone back to his ear. "I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry. I was really angry that day, but that was no reason for me to say any of those things about you. We're friends, and I'm glad Jellal makes you happy." he apologized.

Erza spoke after a while. "I appreciate your words, Gray." She sighed, "I was going to talk to Lucy, as I had a number of things to tell her, but I called you instead. I apologize for the inconvenience."

"It's fine." An awkward silence fell between them. "How have you been?"

"How have _I_ been? Well, I've been just- "

Gray waited, but no response came. He frowned into the phone, "Erza, you good?"

"No." Her voice was suddenly shaky.

He jumped in fear once more, unsure of what had just happened. She sounded fine a second ago, but now her voice sounded small and worried. "W-what? Why are you talking like that?" he asked nervously.

"It's not good." Her voice was shakier than before.

"What? What's not good?"

"It's- it's _Jellal._ "

Gray frowned. "Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not." A soft sniffle came from her end of the line. _Is she... crying?_ "Can we talk?"

Fear immediately took hold of his body. Sure, he and Erza had been ignoring each other this entire time, but now she was crying? They had their disagreements, but she was still his friend. Filled with concern, he headed out of the kitchen. "I'll be there soon." he told her. He tucked his phone into his pocket, returning to the living room to grab his coat.

The videogame sounds suddenly stopped. "Where are you going?" Natsu asked, looking away from the TV.

"Yeah, it's only been an hour." Gajeel added.

"Something came up. I have to go." Gray informed.

"You have to go? But it's videogame Saturday!" Lyon pointed out.

"I know, I'm sorry. But this is important." he stated, putting his coat on. After mumbling a quick goodbye he stepped outside, closing the door behind him.

"Well, you win some and you lose some. Let's get back to playing." Natsu shrugged. He turned back to the TV, controller ready in his hands.

"Wait, hold up. That was kinda weird, wasn't it?" Lyon asked, a suspicious frown on his face.

"How was it weird? Maybe he had a food emergency. Anyway, back to the game, I-"

"No, you're right. That was weird. Gray was the one who suggested playing today, and now he's the first one to leave?" Gajeel agreed.

Lyon thought about it, but shook his head. "It's probably nothing. Let's just keep playing, yeah?"

"Wait, it's only fun with four players. No Gray, no game."

"Isn't there anyone else we can ask?" Natsu suggested. "See if Loke's home yet."

Gajeel paused, then pulled out his phone, swiftly dialing a number. After three rings, a familiarly cheerful voice picked up. "Hey Gajeel!" Levy greeted.

"Yo, Shrimp. We were playing videogames but Gray just left, so we need more players. You wanna stop by?" Gajeel asked, recalling Levy's appreciation for the assassination game that was paused on the screen.

"Works for me. Erza's not here, so we're not having movie night."

Gajeel frowned, mind immediately jumping to Gray's sudden leave. "Erza's not with you guys?"

"No, she called and said she wasn't feeling well. Which sucks, because she was supposed to bring the movies, but anyway…why do you ask?"

"No, it's nothing. See you soon." Gajeel hung up the phone, placing it in his pocket, only to meet the strange grins of his friends next to him. "What?"

"That didn't sound like Loke." Natsu smirked, brow arched in suspicion.

"No, it wasn't." Gajeel shrugged nonchalantly.

"You called 'Shrimp' _awfully_ fast." Lyon continued, leaning torward him.

"Yeah, so?"

"Doesn't that mean she's important to you?"

"What? Gajeel? And a _girl_ that's _important_ to him?" Natsu dramatically put a hand on his chest. "Unheard of!"

"Oh, look at that! His ears are red!" Lyon snickered.

Gajeel smacked both their faces away from his, rolling his eyes. "Dumbasses."

* * *

"Hey, Gray!"

Gray looked up from shutting his car door to see Loke moving towards him, his friend happily walking down the sidewalk. "Loke, what's up?" he asked, recalling that Erza and Loke lived nearby each other.

"Nothing much, just taking a walk." He gave Gray a suspicious grin. "What brings you here?"

Gray shrugged. "Something came up with Erza, I'm just checking in on her."

"Wait, it's Saturday."

"Yeah, so?"

"Isn't it videogame Saturday?" Gray nodded. "So you wasted potential videogame time _and_ gas, just to come here? To see a girl you've been fighting with for weeks?"

Gray shrugged again. "I wanted to make sure she was alright. It sounded really important."

"Well, okay then." Loke nodded. "See ya later."

"See ya." Gray called as he watched his friend continue down the sidewalk. Sighing, he turned and started walking up the stairs that led to Erza's front door. After a brief hesitation, he rang the doorbell.

The door immediately opened. Gray jumped back, surprised she had answered so quickly. "Shit, Erza, that scared m-" He jumped back once more, as he made eye contact with her tear streaked face. "Whoa, Erza, you're- ?"

"Come in." Erza mumbled. Gray stepped inside as Erza closed the door behind him. She started walking inside, Gray following her, when she suddenly stopped in the middle of the foyer.

Gray stopped just as abruptly, nearly running into her. "Erza…?" he started, when Erza suddenly burst into tears. He clutched his chest as soon as he heard her sobs, immediately running to her side. "Hey, what's wrong?!" he asked. Something about seeing a strong person like Erza cry was always unsettling to him.

"Jellal and I...Jellal broke up with me." she cried, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"What? But I thought you guys were doing well?" Gray asked, confused.

Erza shook her head. "It was just like you said that one day. I thought we knew each other really well, but he didn't think so at all and he ended it..." she bit her lip, "And worst of all, I kept seeing him with-" Gray watched as she covered her face, sobbing into her hands again..

Not knowing what to do he awkwardly reached out a hand to console her, but thinking of her possible reactions, he quickly retracted his gesture before she could notice. "Erza, that sucks. I'm so sorry, I-"

"-No, _I'm_ sorry. I was so rude to you that day, but you were right the whole time. I shouldn't have acted like that."

"No, me too! I'm really sorry for all the things I said, especially on the phone...I was really embarrassed, but it wasn't right for me to say."

She looked up at Gray with tear-streaked eyes. "That really means a lot."

Gray shrugged, and without thinking, put an arm around her. "You know what? I think you should be glad you guys broke up. You deserve a new start."

"Thanks, Gray." Erza replied, giving him a small smile through her tear-streaked eyes. Gray smiled back, his happiness obvious as well. It was then that Erza realized that his arm was around her, but instead of shaking it off, she realized how nice it felt, and just how _close_ they suddenly were-

 _Wait._

 _...what the hell?!_

Gray suddenly drew his hand back, gulping loudly as a light blush dusted his face. Erza jumped back just as quickly, looking down at her hands. Gray looked at her slowly, only to make sure she wasn't staring back at him, when Erza looked right at him. He immediately took a step back, loudly clearing his throat. "Yeah, so, uh, I'll see you at school?" he asked, his blush getting redder.

Erza followed suit, curling a strand of hair behind her pink ears. "Uh, yes, at school. Yes. Education." she responded choppily, quickly guiding Gray back to the door.

After exchanging rushed goodbyes she shut the door behind him and turned around, resting her back against the door's cold surface. _I'm glad we sorted that out,_ she thought, clearly happy that she and Gray had worked through everything. But she frowned, bringing a hand to her face, feeling the warmth of a slight blush on her cheek. _But why do I feel so nervous?_ Her thoughts immediately jumped to Gray's kind words and smile- but she shook her head, and left to her room.

 _What an annoyance._

* * *

"So, why are we here again?" Lucy asked. Not that she minded hanging out with her friends- she was always glad to spend time with them. But the sudden meeting at Natsu's house and occupying every available space in the living room was just the _slightest_ bit strange to her.

"Like we said, Erza wasn't bringing the movies to movie night, so we needed another form of fun," Levy explained, "And I love this game." As if on cue an explosion sounded from the speakers. She raised her controller in the air, cheering giddily.

"Of all people, Erza would be the last to ruin movie night." Cana laughed, intensely slamming the buttons on the controller in her hands as well.

"Same with Gray. He was the one that suggested playing games in the first place, but then he leaves. And for what? I'm not even playing anymore…" Natsu pouted, gingerly eyeing the controller in Cana's hands.

"Wait, Gray left too?" Mira asked from her spot on the floor.

"Yeah. That little stripping cheapskate…"

"Wait, guys, that's crazy!"

"Keep it down, I can barely hear the choppers." Lyon told her dismissively, eyes glued to the screen.

"No, seriously, this is insane!" Mira continued, jumping up in front of the TV to face her friends.

Gajeel groaned annoyedly. "Dammit Mira sit down, I can't see a fucking thi- "

"PAUSE THE FREAKING GAME!" Mira shouted. Everyone jumped in surprise. Eyes wide Gajeel clicked a button, and the sound effects stopped. Mira lowered her hands, smiling sweetly at all of them. "Now, as I was saying, I made a connection: Erza didn't show up to hang out with us because she wasn't feeling well, and Gray left you guys because of 'something important.'"

Levy shrugged. "So?"

"Yeah, why'd we have to pause the game for that?" Lyon added.

"Don't you guys get it? Don't you think they could be... _together_?" Mira prodded, eyebrows raised in excitement.

Gajeel wagged a finger at her, shaking his head. "Oh no no _no_ you don't. This is just a funny coincidence, not another place for you to do that creepy matchmaking shit-"

"C'mon! They're definitely together right now!"

"But does that even mean anything? The game is definitely more exciting than this…" Natsu chimed.

"Well- " She was suddenly cut off by the ringing doorbell.

Natsu got up from his seat, making his way to the door. "It's just Loke!" he called from the foyer, and opened the door. "Hey man, they're in the middle of a round, but we can-"

Loke came in running, the excitement on his face clear. "-GUYS! You will _NOT_ believe who I- oh, hello, sweet Lucy." He smiled at the blonde, taking her hand into his.

"H-hey, Loke, how's it going?" Lucy winced, chuckling halfheartedly. This was a normal occurrence for her and the orange haired boy, but it didn't make it any less weird.

"How have you been? I must say, you look more stunning than usual. Is that a new necklace?" Loke continued.

"Y'know for once, you're actually right. I bought it yesterday."

"Well I must say, it looks _beautiful_ on yo- OW!" Loke dropped Lucy's hand, his own clutching the side of his head.

"You haven't formed a significant sentence yet. Please get to the point or I'll slap you again." Natsu interrupted.

"Jeez, okay! As I was _saying,_ you'll never guess who I saw before getting here!" Loke gushed, his excitement returning.

Cana groaned, "Get to the point, we're in the middle of a round- "

"GRAY!" he announced.

Levy shrugged. "Apparently he just left, he could have driven by while you were on your way over-"

"No, no, he wasn't driving by or anything. I saw his car, and when he got out I asked him why he was here. And guess what he said?! That he was going to Erza's!" he revealed.

Gajeel frowned, looking between Mira and Loke. "Wait, that means- "

"-Isn't it obvious what it means?" Mira asked, her eyebrows raised enthusiastically.

Cana arched an eyebrow at the two of them. "So you think that Gray and Erza are some sort of... _thing,_ now?" she asked.

"YES!" both Mira and Loke shouted excitedly. "Why else would they not say where they're actually going?" Loke added.

"That's impossible. They've been fighting for the past...I don't know, week?" Natsu pointed out.

"Yeah, but what if he's actually there? What if they made up? What if they're _dating?!_ " Mira continued, hands clasped together eagerly. Loke nodded in agreement.

Gajeel scoffed, shaking his head. "Yeah right. I mean I haven't seen her with Jellal lately, but as long as she has him that will never happen."

"And this is Gray we're talking about. He wouldn't act on any feelings, not for Erza or for anyone. You know how stubborn he is." Cana chimed in.

"But _hypothetically_ , let's just say that it's real. As friends, shouldn't we find out, so we can...y'know, help them out?!" Mira asked hopefully.

They others exchanged speculative looks, before shaking their heads in disagreement. "That's not our concern, and will not be our concern." Lyon decided, everyone nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, Gajeel's right: as long as Jellal's in her life, that would never happen." Cana agreed.

"And she wouldn't go to Gray, right?" Levy added, earning nods in response.

Loke sighed. "Okay, you guys are right. It's probably nothing," he shrugged, taking a seat on the couch next to Lucy, much to Natsu's annoyance. The game resumed, as though they had discussed nothing.

But Mira sat back down, her thoughts not as swayed as Loke's were. Her disappointment went unnoticed among the sound of crashing cars and firing machine guns. Her friends didn't agree with her now, but something told her that this was more than just a funny coincidence.

* * *

I hope y'all enjoyed! I wish you all the best in 2016. Spend time with the people that truly care about you, make your own decisions, and don't forget to indulge. Love y'all!

-Pinky


	4. Square One

Chapter 4 is finally here! *cries tears of joy*

* * *

Gray snorted at the two people in front of him. "What?" he asked, snickering at Lucy's expression.

"So it _is_ true," Lucy spoke, "you went to Erza's on Saturday? And you didn't tell any of us?!"

"Yeah, I did." He shrugged at her disbelieving expression. "You guys know she's going through another breakup, I was just there to help her out."

"And it wasn't a big deal at a-" Lucy was saying, when Natsu propped his arm on top of her head.

"Hey now, _someone_ sounds a little jealous!" he joked.

Lucy frowned as she shook his arm off. "Of course I am! It's very un-Erza-like behavior."

Gray shrugged. "Well, she looks fine. Erza!" he called. Their friend was down the hall, closing her locker.

Hearing Gray the redhead made her way over, nodding at each of them. "Hello." she greeted, and turned to Gray, "Did you finish the calc homework Mr. Alors gave out? I didn't understand a single thing."

Gray shook his head. "He never explains anything. I'll probably read about it later."

Erza clicked her tongue. "The only thing worse than a useless teacher is a useless classmate." she stated, shaking her head. Gray opened his mouth to protest, when another voice interrupted.

"Well well well, what's going on over here?" Mira asked, her head popping up between Gray and Erza's shoulders.

Erza arched an eyebrow at the white-haired girl. "Nothing. Why do you ask?"

"So, it's true? You guys made up?" she prodded, placing her hands on Gray and Erza's shoulders.

"Yeah, we're cool now." Gray shrugged.

Erza nodded in agreement, "Yes. And stop being _creepy_." she spoke, shaking Mira's hand off her shoulder.

"Sure." Mira nodded, and arched a suggestive eyebrow at the two of them. "But you know what I think? I think you guys should-"

Lucy interjected, clearing her throat. "-Hey, I saw Freed walking to the library, don't you need to help him?" she interrupted. She dealt enough with Natsu and Gray's fights, the last thing she needed was one with Mira and Erza.

Mira pouted at her, but nodded. "Actually, I do. I have to give him my Spanish notes."

"Oh, _that's_ all you're giving him?" Gray joked. Erza slapped his arm as he snickered.

Mira sent him a glare, before walking away. Lucy turned to Erza. "Anyway, how have you been doing Erza? You're okay?" she asked.

"You seem normal-ish." Natsu chimed in.

Erza nodded. "Yeah, I've been fine, it's- " A head of blue hair caught her eye. She looked to see Jellal leaning against a locker, his back to her. He was talking to someone...She saw the expected head of dark purple hair. She felt the familiar, bitter taste of betrayal. The redhead suddenly pulled out her phone, checking the time. "It's almost 8:10, Gray. We should be going to Calc."

Gray frowned. "Now? We still have- " But Erza started walking, not valuing Gray's input in the slightest. He sighed, waving to Natsu and Lucy. "See you guys later." he said, and turned to catch up with Erza. "Slow down, would ya? You're rivaling a cheetah at this speed…" he muttered.

"I'd slow down if we were on time, but according to my clock, we're not."

"Yeah, _your_ clock." he muttered.

"What was that?"

"N-nothing!" Gray blurted out. She gave him a warning glare, but saw something past him and quickly turned around. Curious, Gray looked back the slightest bit, following her gaze. He saw Jellal with Ultear, the two now walking down the hall. He looked back to Erza, frowning slightly. _She wouldn't care that much._ he hoped.

* * *

 _It's not like how it was before. Two people can talk in the hall. It's nothing. Things are different now, it's-_

"-Can you explain the second pre-lab question to me?"

Erza snapped out of her thoughts, turning to the the boy in front of her. "Fine." she agreed, eyes narrowed. She hoped he noticed her irritated tone. But Gray remained clueless, placing his paper on top of hers and explaining his problem. She flinched his sudden closeness- she could smell his cologne, see the threads of fabric that made up his purple Hawaiian shirt, and feel the warmth of his body next to her.

The feeling of deja vu waved over her as her thoughts immediately jumped to Gray's impromptu visit over the weekend. And by default, they jumped to how she saw Jellal this morning. Her face reddened as the same feeling of embarrassment passed over her body.

"-So do we use sample 2 or sample 4?" Gray finished, looking to Erza for an answer.

Erza glared at him, ignoring his entire question. "Look, I'm not your answer key, Gray." she snapped. "Get your answers from Lyon, or Juvia, or _anyone_ else."

Gray almost laughed, caught off-guard by her sudden mood swing. "Okay, what did I do now? Your stress wrinkle just got ten times bigger. " he asked sarcastically, referring to the crease in Erza's forehead that appeared when she was worried. "Did you forget your lunch again?" Erza simply turned away from him. Gray leaned towards her, a look of concern on his face. "Is this about Jellal and Ultear?" he asked, voice lowered.

Erza's eyes widened in surprise. _How did he know?_ But she shook her head. "It's not your place to ask." she stated dismissively.

Gray frowned, taking his paper. "Well, okay, but you can tell me if- " He watched as Erza suddenly turned to her paper, away from him. "Jeez. Whatever you're angry about, don't take it out on me. It's one thing to yell, but another to-"

"-Do you ever stop _talking_?!" she hissed, shaking her head, glaring as she looked him up and down. "And of all the clothes you strip, why isn't that stupid shirt one of them…"

Gray looked at her in disbelief. He opened his mouth to retaliate, but something held him back. He simply shook his head, walking back to his seat on the other side of the room.

In another row, Juvia watched the two with a giddy smile, squealing at the couple's discordance. "You look very happy." a voice spoke. She turned to her left and saw Lyon looking at her, an interested expression on his face.

She placed her pencil on her open notebook, smiling to herself. "Yes. Juvia's noticed that Gray and Erza aren't getting along anymore."

Lyon frowned, her response clearly not what he expected. "Oh. So?"

" _So_?! It's the perfect opportunity. Juvia knows exactly what Gray likes. He's practically Juvia's." she squealed.

Lyon's face reddened as he heard her enthusiasm for Gray. "Uh, yeah, sure...um…" he stammered, looking the blue haired girl over, "Y-y'know, your hair looks really nice today."

Juvia frowned at his comment. "What?" she asked, confused as to why he even cared. They talked semi-often in this class, but she still didn't know him that well.

Lyon shook his head, turning away from the blue-haired girl. "Nothing." he told her, trying to work on the homework sheet in front of him.

"Look, Lyon, Juvia appreciates your compliment, but she only accepts compliments from Gray-sama." she told him, sticking up her nose. She hoped he couldn't tell she was lying. But then again her statement wasn't exactly a lie; it just hadn't happened yet.

"Well, obsession isn't the way to a man's heart." he murmured, still staring at his chemistry worksheet.

Juvia scoffed at him. "Excuse?" she exclaimed, but Lyon was working dutifully on his worksheet. She turned back to her own worksheet as well. _How rude!_ she thought, chest puffed defensively. But beneath her anger, something about Lyon's words struck her.

* * *

Lucy stared at the boy in front of her, unsure of what to think. "You...you what?" she asked, but she had a feeling the answer wouldn't change her confused state. Natsu whined loudly below her. She wasn't sure what had happened: she and Levy were walking from gym and went to her locker like usual, but all she saw next was a sudden flash of pink hair, and then Natsu on the ground. He was complaining about something, but between their distance and his garbled words she couldn't understand a thing he was saying.

"I _said,_ my stomach _hurts!_ You know how important my stomach is to me!" Natsu wailed, clutching his stomach in desperation.

Levy giggled. "That sounds like a 'you' problem."

Lucy laughed as she looked down at him, rolling her eyes. "C'mon Natsu, you look awful down there!" she spoke, holding a hand out to the pink haired boy.

Natsu took her hand, slowly standing up. "I don't know, Luce. I definitely look better than Gray, right?"

Lucy frowned. "Why, what happened to Gray?"

"We can ask him." Natsu spoke, waving over the dark haired boy that was walking towards them. Gray reached their spot, hands in his pockets and a frown on his face. "You look like shit. Erza beat you up again?" Natsu asked, brows furrowed in concern.

Gray rolled his eyes. "She freaked out at me in Chem. _Again_." He shook his head. "Makes no sense."

"But Jellal did just break up with her. Of course she's snappier than usual." Lucy pointed out.

"I don't care. She doesn't have to take it out on me."

"Didn't you guys already talk?" Levy asked, confused.

Gray nodded. "We did. But she's still acting the same." He shook his head. "It's like I didn't help her." The bell rang, signaling that there was a minute till the next class started. "I'll catch you guys later." he said, before leaving down the hall.

Natsu snorted. "Since when did Gray care that much?" he snickered.

Levy, on the other hand, turned to Lucy. "What was that all about?"

The blonde shook her head. "He's clearly upset."

"Can we do anything?"

Lucy pursed her lips in thought. "There is...but the boys definitely wouldn't approve of it."

"What? Boys? As in me?" Natsu chimed in.

"Oh, so we're using Mira?" Levy clarified.

"Using Mira? For what?"

Lucy nodded. "We'll talk about it at lunch." The two nodded, and walked to their fourth hour classes.

"But- what?" Natsu called after them, but he went unnoticed. He sank his shoulders, huffing a strand of pink hair out of his eyes. "Yeesh. _Girls._ "

* * *

Mira looked around the lunch table, taking a seat across from Lucy. "Where is everyone?" she asked, noting the absence of most of their friends.

"Erza's making up a test, but as for the boys," Lucy responded, "we had to clear them out."

"Clear them out?"

"Don't worry Mira, I'm just as confused as you are." Cana chimed in.

"Wow, so you got all the boys to miss lunch today? That's impressive." The white haired girl leaned toward Lucy, a mischievous grin on her face. "Did you use laxatives?"

"What?! No! Mira, that's disgusting!" the blonde scolded, pushing Mira away.

"Hey now, this is a big feat! I'm interested in how you got them all out of here."

"Well, we didn't get _all_ of them out of here." Levy added.

"What do you mean?"

As if on cue Gray sat at the table, lunch in hand. "Okay, I don't know what this meeting's about, but don't yell at me. I've been yelled at all day."

Cana snorted. "What, you and Erza? I thought you worked things out?"

"Yeah, I did too. But she freaked out at me again, probably because she saw Jellal and Ultear together this morning."

"Not to break your bubble, but this meeting is about you and Erza." Lucy told him.

"We want you guys back to normal already." Levy added.

Gray shook his head, "She just needs to stop taking her anger out on me. All I wanted was some help with frickin' chemistry, and she makes fun of my shirt…"

Cana snickered to herself. "Well, that shirt _is_ a little -"

"-Hey!"

"Cana, be nice!" Mira interjected, "Luaus aren't always in Hawaii!"

" _Hey_!" Gray protested while the two exchanged high fives.

Lucy suddenly sat up, face lit up with delight. "Wait, that's it!" she realized, holding a finger in the air.

"What? What's 'it?'" Gray asked, confused.

"You have to get your chem notes early and dress really nicely!" she responded, nodding her head excitedly.

Gray stared at her skeptically. "Lucy, what- ?"

Lucy leaned forward, hands clasped in excitement. "Erza always gets mad at you because you go to her for answers, right? So why don't you come to class with the answers already? That way she won't be annoyed with you, because you won't have to ask her!"

"And the shirt thing?"

"C'mon, Gray," Cana sneered, pinching the purple fabric, "We'd do anything to get rid of _this_."

Gray looked down at the shirt, gripping the fabric in his hands. "There's nothing bad about this shir-"

Levy interrupted him. "Gray, think about it: she made fun of your shirt. But what's there to make fun of if you wear really nice ones?"

He frowned. "This one isn't even bad…" he grumbled. "I don't think it's gonna work."

Lucy shook her head. "Come onnnnn. You have nothing to lose."

"And I don't know about everyone else, but I'm tired of hearing of you guys argue." Levy nodded.

After a while, Gray shrugged. "...Alright. I guess it wouldn't hurt to try." he agreed.

Lucy happily clapped her hands together. "Perfect! You can find shirts yourself, but Levy can give you her Chem notes, because she has Chem 1st hour." she decided, nodding at the blue haired girl.

Levy choked on her apple. "Wait, _my_ notes? Why do they have to be _my_ notes?! Lyon's in that class too!" she protested, but saw Gray and Lucy's pleading faces. She frowned at them, crossing her arms. "Alright, fine. But I'm only doing this because I think it's nice that you care for Erza so much." she explained.

Gray laughed this time, shaking his head. "I don't care for her any more than you guys," he spoke, "I just want her to stop mopin' over Jellal."

Mira nodded. "Agreed." She flicked Gray's shirt, "And best of all, Gray will never have to wear this thing again!" she snickered.

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS SHIRT?!" Gray shouted, as the girls cackled with laughter. Cana, on the other hand, sat quietly in thought, resting her chin on her palm. _There must be more than that._

* * *

Ultear walked through the school parking lot, headed for her car. She looked around at her surroundings, thankful that the mid-evening darkness didn't hide her car. She sighed as she piled her backpack and textbooks into the front seat; her day was already long as it was, and her voluntary tutoring sessions after school didn't make it feel any better.

"Ultear!" a voice called through the quietness.

Ultear immediately turned around. Her heartbeat quickened as she saw Jellal walking towards her, carrying his backpack and a duffel bag over his shoulders. "Hey, Jellal." she greeted as he neared her.

"You leaving?" he asked. She noticed his damp hair and the sharp scent of men's body wash- she almost blushed.

"Yeah, you?" she responded.

Jellal nodded. "Soccer was crazy. Elfman's really energetic as a coach, but sometimes I feel it's too much." he laughed.

"It's always the alumni, huh?" she joked.

"Right, right." Jellal responded. He watched as Ultear's eyes darted to her car, when he spoke up. "You wanna grab something to eat? I haven't eaten since school got out, and it's dinnertime anyway." he proposed.

Ultear eyed him carefully. She saw the hopeful expression on his face, and was about to dismiss him, when she noticed something else: he almost looked...nervous.

A warning flashed in her head.

She gave him a saddened expression. "I have a ton of calc to do, so I can't tonight." she declined politely, still studying Jellal.

"Oh, yeah, that's fine." he shrugged. She was about to leave, when he took a shy step forward. "Can I ask you something?" She gave him a wary look. "Well, you mentioned calc, and I was meaning to ask you earlier today…" He paused, then looked at her. "Would you be my tutor?"

She heaved an internal sigh of relief. _That question could have gone so many different ways_. "Aren't you getting an A?"

Jellal shook his head. "Between games and practice I barely have time to study, and that last test really killed my grade." He looked at her with the same hopeful expression. "So...would you be able to?"

She looked at him, searching for the betrayal, the dishonesty, the lie. But all she saw were Jellal's brown eyes staring innocently into hers. It was a genuine request, a favor.

A favor for a friend.

"Alright." she agreed.

Jellal's sighed in relief as he clapped a hand onto Ultear's arm. "Thank you so much, Ultear," he told her, smiling in appreciation, "You're a lifesaver!"

She shrugged. "Just let me know what you want to work on, and when. And you actually have to work, don't waste my time!"

The blue haired boy laughed, waving her words off. "You know I won't."

She smiled bashfully, casually slipping out from his arm. "Alright, I'll see you later." she told him, turning away to walk to the driver's seat.

"Ultear." he spoke, and for a second time she turned to him. "Thanks again." he repeated.

The second she saw the happiness in his eyes she wanted to smile just as brightly- but she knew she couldn't. So she shrugged, smiling ever so slightly as she gave him a nonchalant wave goodbye. Her smile faltered as soon as she got in her car, watching Jellal's retreating figure.

It was definitely a warning.

* * *

Mira hesitantly walked up the to the red front door. She knew she was at the right place, but something about meeting at a random person's house at 8 in the evening still seemed strange to her. She gave the door in front of her a wary look, before ringing the doorbell.

The door opened, revealing a young, blue haired boy. He gave her a smile, but tilted his head in confusion. "Mira?" he asked. "What are you doing here?"

Mira was as surprised as he was. In front of her was Romeo Conbolt, freshman at Fairy Tail High and Mr. Conbolt's son. "Romeo! Sorry, there must be some mistake…" She looked down at the open text on her phone, and the gold numbers that adorned the space next to the door- the address was correct. She frowned. _Why would Cana tell me to-_

"Mira, you're here, great!" a familiar voice greeted. Cana was now at the front door, pushing past Romeo and pulling Mira inside.

"Why is Mira here? Does she have a sheet of Trig laws?" Romeo asked, following the girls inside. Mira noted the calculator and sheet of paper held in his hand.

"Nope, but she does have business with me." Cana responded, ushering Mira through the living room.

"Well if she doesn't have them, then why is she here? I thought you said you could help me with this-"

He was suddenly cut off as Cana turned around, placing her hands on his shoulders. "Alright, kid. I need five minutes with Mira, and then we can help you with whatever trigonometric thing you need. Sound good?" Before Romeo got a chance to respond, however, Cana was already off, tugging Mira into a room. The door slammed shut behind them.

"Cana, what's going on?" Mira asked. She watched suspiciously as Cana sat down at a computer.

"What do you mean? I told you we needed to meet." the brunette shrugged.

"Yeah, but not at Mr. Conbolt's house!"

"Relax, it's fine. I just need five minutes." Mira looked over her friend's shoulder, noticing that she was on the school website. She watched as the brunette entered a series of login codes. Within a matter of seconds the screen displayed what looked like seating charts. The brunette started looking over the chart, switching certain spots around.

"How'd you get here anyway?"

"It's not hard. You tell the kid you'll help him with his homework, and he's down."

Mira watched as Cana continued working on other seating charts as well, switching certain places around. "So, what _exactly_ are you doing?"

"Being a genius." She gave one final definitive click of the mouse, before nodding triumphantly at her work. "Done." She started getting up, logging out of the website and turning off the computer.

"With what? Can you tell me already?" Mira asked, following her friend out the door.

The two were immediately stopped- Romeo was right outside, arms crossed. He raised a suspecting eyebrow at Cana. "What were you doing in the computer room?" he questioned.

Cana simply shrugged. "I needed to check my grades. Why?"

"Yeah right. You don't care about school."

"He's got a point there!" Mira giggled.

Cana sent her a glare, before turning back to Romeo. "Tell you what. You'll keep this little _detour_ a secret, and I'll let you hang out with Natsu."

Romeo's eyes immediately lit up, any ounce of suspicion completely erased. "You will?! Really?!" the boy asked eagerly, thinking of nothing but having lunch with his pink-haired role model.

Cana nodded. "You bet." she promised, pulling Mira with her to the door. They stepped outside, waving goodbye. "Thanks again kid!"

"Wait! But what about my Trig homework? I don't know if it's right!" he protested.

Cana waved him off. "You can miss ten assignments before things start getting bad, _trust_ me." She gave a final wave over shoulder. "Bye!"

The two walked down to their cars, parked at the end of the driveway. Once out of earshot Mira turned to Cana. "Alright, so are you gonna tell me or not?"

Cana nodded, eyes bright with excitement. "I got into the classes that Gray and Erza have together, and made them sit beside each other in every one!"

Mira's eyes widened in shock. "Cana, isn't that," she smirked, "illegal?"

She nodded. "Probably. But with Lucy and Levy's plan, I think this will finally give us some peace and quiet with those two- "

"Heeeeey, gorgeous!" a new voice called. Startled, the two turned and saw a car had pulled up to them. Through the rolled window and the nearly dark night was an unmistakable head of soft, honey blonde hair.

"Hey Hibiki!" Mira greeted cheerfully, recognizing Hibiki Lates, another boy in their grade.

Cana, on the other hand, rolled her eyes, turning back to Mira. "Anyways, as I was _saying_ -"

"Ms. Alberona, what do I have to do to get your attention?" Hibiki continued. Mira held a hand over her mouth, trying to hide her already-obvious giggling- Hibiki and Cana's interactions were always hilarious to her.

Cana sent her friend an unappreciative glare, before turning to the boy. "What's up, Hibiki? Another date go wrong?" she joked, smirking at him.

"Actually, I'm on my way home- I was studying at the library- I have to get good grades for a girl with expectations as high as yours." he responded smoothly.

Cana couldn't help but smile the tiniest bit. "Bullshit." she laughed. "Besides, you're out of luck- the guys I go for graduated _last_ year."

"C'mon Cana, can't I ask you to dinner?"

Cana snorted, shaking her head in disapproval. "Maybe when I give up alcohol." she joked, and obnoxiously waved her fingers at the boy. "Bye, Hibiki!" He gave her a fake pout, before driving away. As soon as he left Cana turned back to Mira. "Anyway, I- " She frowned, seeing Mira's arched eyebrow. "What?"

"And you say you don't like him." the white haired girl smirked.

"What- because I _don't_! C'mon, even _you_ know that." Cana rolled her eyes, "Anyway, we have a job to do."

"And you have a boy to do."

"Shut the hell up, Mira."

* * *

My year is finally un-busying itself, so look for more frequent updates to come :) Thank you for all your patience and support, and keep those reviews comin!

-PinkKoala213


	5. Phase One

I promise my updating time will get faster woooooooo here's chapter 5

* * *

Levy was waiting outside the chemistry room, lips pressed in a thin line. She tapped her foot nervously, watching as the hallway clock ticked closer to the start of second hour. "Levy!" a voice called from down the hall. She turned around, sighing in relief as she saw Gray jogging towards her.

"Gray, I'm gonna be late!" she grumbled when he finally reached her.

"Sorry, I was changing." He stood up, displaying his outfit. "How do I look?" he asked.

She pursed her lips as she studied his wardrobe change. She nodded approvingly at the white button down shirt and crisp black pants that replaced his usual plain t-shirt and faded jeans. She almost complimented him, when she noticed another new addition to his ensemble. "Who did you steal those from?" she asked, almost laughing at the strange glasses he was wearing.

"These? They're mine." Gray responded defensively, pushing the lenses up his nose.

Levy squinted suspiciously at the black frames that adorned his face. "Those aren't real, are they?" she examined, leaning towards him, "They kinda look like those 3D glasses with the logo scratched off…"

Gray rolled his eyes. "Okay, besides that."

She gave him a final look-over. "You look...suitable for an enjoyable learning environment whilst discreetly catching the attention of a girl in your class."

"I'll take it." he shrugged. "Notes?" he asked, holding out his hand.

Levy nodded, handing him her notebook. They were interrupted by the loud bell ringing, signaling the start of second hour. "Ugh, now I'm late!" she whined, turning to leave.

"Your class is right over there!" Gray scoffed, but she was already running down the hall. "Wait, Levy, what do I do with this?" he asked, holding up the notebook.

"Just read my answers!"

"Okay, tha- " Gray started, but the blue haired girl was already out of earshot. He sighed and turned to his class, determined to ace his plan.

* * *

Erza took a deep breath, trying to calm down. Class was starting in one minute, and she had completely forgotten about the chemistry homework assigned the night before. And to top it all off, Mr. Conbolt's new seating assignment made Gray her lab partner. She scanned the room, feeling more secure as she realized Gray was nowhere to be seen. She may be worrying about her forgotten homework, but at least she didn't have to worry about Gray.

The bell rang, meaning second hour was starting. Mr. Conbolt stood up from his desk at the front of the room, students slowly dispersing from their social groups. "Alright, alright, sit down everyone. And take out your homework." he announced.

Erza's stress heightened as she saw Mr. Conbolt take out his grade book. _I've never gotten a late assignment in my life!_ She frowned, trying to think of what she could do. But Mr. Conbolt was getting closer to her row, checking the open notebooks of her classmates and nodding in approval. She took a deep breath. _I can't write anything. I'll just have to accept it and-_

The door opened loudly. She could hear Juvia gasp from her seat, and for once she agreed with the blue haired girl- she felt an unexpected blush warm her face. "Gray, nice of you to join us." Mr. Conbolt commented sarcastically, continuing his homework check.

"I apologize for my tardiness, Mr. Conbolt." Gray announced.

Mr. Conbolt arched his eyebrow. "Since when did _you_ apologize for your tardiness?"

"I always have. You class is very valuable to me and I have benefitted from it in many ways."

"...Right. Well, find your seat and take out your homework, then." Mr. Conbolt instructed, a skeptical expression still on his face.

"We got new seats?" Gray asked, pointing at the new seating arrangement that was displayed on the board.

Mr. Conbolt followed his gaze, frowning in confusion. "I don't remember making a new seating chart…" he mused, but shook his head regardless. "Yes. It appears you sit next to…" He squinted at the board. "Erza." Gray nodded, and made his way over to the other side of the room.

The first thing Erza noticed was his outfit. His dark hair was still slightly messy, and he still walked ever so casually, but..something was different. Maybe it was his clean white shirt, the way it complemented his skin tone perfectly, or his crisp black pants, or the fact that although his shirt was buttoned and tucked in enough that you could still see his V-shaped body, or how the silver chain of his necklace was placed perfectly so that its charm disappearing under his black v-neck, or maybe just the fact that he looked... _hot._

She was still staring when Gray reached her. "Hey." he greeted. Erza looked down as she tucked a hair behind her ear, trying to hide her evident blush.

"Did you do the assignment?" she asked, hoping he didn't hear the desperation in her voice.

"Why, did you not?" he smirked.

She frowned at his smile. "What makes you say that?" she lied.

"The fact that your stress wrinkle has made yet another appearance." Gray snickered, nodding at the faint line in Erza's forehead. She opened her mouth to counter his comment, when a voice interrupted them.

"Gray, please sit down." Mr. Conbolt spoke. Gray obliged, taking his seat next to Erza. Panic filled Erza's body as her teacher looked at her expectantly. "Homework, Erza?"

"I- Mr. Conbolt, I completely- " she stammered, when she saw something on the lab table. She and Mr. Conbolt turned to see Gray holding his notebook out to them.

"We worked on it together at the library yesterday." he stated. Erza stared back at him, astonished. But Gray remained unfazed, his notebook still held out in front of them.

Erza nodded eagerly. "Yes! The library!" she blurted, turning to Mr. Conbolt. The teacher glanced briefly at the notebook but shrugged, and continued down the rest of the row. Erza waited till he was far enough away, then turned to Gray. "I can handle this myself, you don't have to- " She suddenly stopped. "Since when did you wear glasses?" she asked, noticing Gray's new accessory.

"Oh, these? I've had them forever." Gray responded, nonchalantly shrugging as he looked through his notebook.

Erza ignored the blush that was coming back. "No, no no. I've known you forever, _you_ don't wear _glasses_!"

"I guess you've never noticed." he shrugged.

She scoffed. "Of course I've noticed!" _I would've noticed something this..enhancing._ "What are you- "

"-Erza, because you're so talkative today, would you expand on the significance of hybridization in VSEPR theory?" Mr. Conbolt interrupted, now at the front of the room and staring at Erza expectantly..

Erza looked at him in a panic. "Um, yes sir, I can, in a second…" She hurriedly shuffled her notes around, trying to find the answer to Mr. Conbolt's question.

"That's okay; perhaps Gray can assist you, seeing as his hand is raised." Erza sat up in shock, watching as her teacher turned his attention to the boy next to her.

"Well, VSEPR Theory determines the form of the molecule based on electron repulsion. Basically, without this theory we wouldn't know what the molecule looked like." Gray explained. Erza's jaw dropped. She couldn't help it; the perfection of his analysis stunned her. _Does he even know what electron repulsion is?!_ she thought.

"But, sometimes the theory doesn't work because of overlaps. So we use hybridization to show the overlap bonds. They can't exist without each other, even if it seems like the theory doesn't need hybridization." He chuckled, "But that's just my answer, anyway."

"Excellent response, Gray. You covered some of the most important points in this chapter." Mr. Conbolt complimented, nodding in approval. "Let's talk more about these orbitals…"

But orbitals were the last thing Erza was thinking of. She stared at Gray, completely baffled. She studied his new appearance, looking for something that could explain what was going on. _How is he doing it?_ Gray, on the other hand, was completely unaware of her thoughts. The dark haired boy simply continued writing in his notebook, pushing his glasses up every so often. She scrunched her face. _This is something new._ she thought, turning away from Gray to hide the blush that was becoming more apparent.

As soon as she turned away Gray looked at her out of the corner of his eye, a confident smirk on his face.

* * *

Lucy was walking to English, when she saw a familiar redhead walking down the hall in front of her. "Erza!" she called, but Erza continued walking. She sighed quickly, before jogging to catch up with her. "Erza." she repeated, falling into step with her friend.

Erza turned to her, surprised. "Lucy, hello." She shook her head. "I'm sorry, I've been especially spacey today." she apologized.

Lucy snorted. "Since when have _you_ ever been spacey?"

"I've been faced with some... _little_ distractions."

"'A little?' What 'little' things could be distracting you this much?"

Erza frowned. "Well…" Her voice suddenly lowered. "This might sound strange, but it's about Gray." she admitted.

Lucy's ears perked up upon hearing Gray's name. "Oh? What do you mean?" she asked, trying not to look as interested as she felt.

"Well, for one, he looks oddly presentable today. You and I know he doesn't know a thing about fashion, but for some reason I haven't found a single flaw in his outfit. And on a normal day I lose count of how many times I find his clothes on the ground _somewhere_ in this school, but guess how many times I did today?" She leaned in. "Not a single time!"

Lucy almost broke out laughing. "C'mon, Erza. You're telling me you're _this_ distracted, solely by Gray's change in wardrobe habits?"

"It's in other things too. He's also been doing a thorough analysis of everything we do in class. He summarized the end of the book we're reading in English, and I'm 96.7% sure he hasn't read past chapter two!" The redhead sighed in exasperation. "And to top it all off, in every class I have with him, we sit _right_ next to each other." She shook her head, "It's like today was meant for me to notice him."

Lucy shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't know Erza. It sounds like the constellations have finally aligned, and all these interactions with Gray are signs of that."

"Lucy, I already told you, I don't believe in any of that horoscope-y constellation-y mumbo-jumbo that you're interested in."

"All I'm saying is," she nudged her friend's side, "maybe someone here as a newfound interest in our very own Gray Fullbuster?" she winked. She looked at Erza with anticipation, waiting to hear the redhead admit her appreciation for the dark haired boy.

Instead, Erza shook her head. "It's like he's a completely different person." She was about to continue, when a faint buzzing sounded between them. She reached into her bag and grabbed her phone, but her expression darkened when she looked at the screen.

"What? Who is it?" Lucy asked, confused at her friend's sudden frown.

Erza shrugged, swiping a finger across the screen. "Wrong number." she responded flatly, putting her phone back in her bag.

* * *

x

* * *

It was another day and another lunch period, everyone eating peacefully...that is, until Lucy slammed her hand on the table. She groaned in frustration, earning everyone's attention. "It's not working!" she whined, slumping over the table.

Cana rolled her eyes. "Lucy I told you, you gotta put the ointment in the refrigerator and _then_ apply it, otherwise it'll-"

Natsu snickered, "You use ointment? Why would you need _ointment_?"

Gajeel, who was sitting next to Lucy, suddenly jumped back in shock. "- _What_? What ointment? You guys _know_ I have sensitive skin- "

"No! Cana shut up, I wasn't saying anything about any ointment!" Lucy shouted, flailing her hands between her friends.

"Oh. Oops." Cana shrugged, sending Lucy a cheeky wink.

Lucy rolled her eyes. " _Anyway,_ as I was saying, it's not working."

Natsu shook his head. "What's not working? I'd say these pastrami sandwiches are working _juuust_ fine- "

"I'm talking about you and Erza!" she exclaimed, holding her hands out to Gray. "It's been two _whole_ weeks, and all she's said is that you're 'different' and nothing more."

Gray leaned forward. "What? That's all she's said?" He scoffed. "Shit, if I were a girl and saw me, I'd be saying a _whole_ lot more than- OW!" He was suddenly pulled to the table's surface, Cana's hand planted on his head.

"Gray, you look semi-presentable at best. Let's not get ahead of ourselves," the brunette warned.

Lyon shook his head, turning to Lucy. "But why are _you_ frustrated? You're not either of them."

"Because I hate when my ideas go to waste!"

"Hold on, I wouldn't necessarily say they went to waste." Mira disagreed. "You want Gray and Erza to get together, right?"

Gray suddenly sat up. "Whoa whoa whoa, no, this isn't to get us together. It's to get Erza over Jellal!" he corrected.

Mira rolled her eyes jokingly. "C'mon Gray, let's be real. _Clearly_ you and Erza are finally developing that little childhood crush you had for each other- "

Gray shook his head in annoyance. "No, it's not like that. I just want her to be my friend again." He stood up from the table, lunch bag in hand. "I have a paper to print out." he announced, before leaving towards the library.

Lucy watched as he left, and frowned. "He's obviously denying something." But she put her head back in her hands. "I don't know where to go from here."

Mira leaned forward, a mischievous smirk on her lips. "I have an idea."

"What?" Lucy asked flatly, her face still hidden by her hands.

"It requires time, and a lot of effort, but...it's definitely possible."

Gajeel frowned cautiously, taking a swig from his water bottle. "What do you mean?"

"Yeah, what are you suggesting?" Levy added, leaning forward in curiosity.

Mira lifted her head proudly. "I'm thinking," she smirked. "An intervention." The four-syllable word was enough to catch everyone's attention.

"Yes!" Lucy and Levy cheered, high fiving each other while Cana nodded in agreement.

The boys, on the other hand, exchanged confused glances. "Um, what?" Lyon asked.

"What do you mean, 'what?' We're having an intervention with Gray and Erza." Mira repeated.

"But...what does that entail?"

"Like locking them in the janitor's closet and forcing them to be friends?" Gajeel joked.

"No, it's- "

"Or leaving them in a supermarket and forcing them to bond?" Lyon added.

"That's not- "

"Or leaving them stranded on an island, and letting the crab people come for them?!" Natsu added, nodding in excitement.

"No! No closets, no supermarkets, no crab people!"

The pink haired boy tilted his head in confusion. "Then what are you saying?"

Mira sat back down, sighing in annoyance. "I'm just saying we give them...you know, a little push."

"This is Gray and Erza we're talking about, they're gonna need a lot more than a 'little' push." Cana snickered.

"You know what I mean. Do you get it now?"

Gajeel sighed. "You know how I feel about your stupid, _creepy_ matchmaking shit, but in this case…" He nodded. "I can see them benefiting from it."

While everyone shared statements of agreement, Mira smirked to herself. _They won't be the only ones benefiting from it._

* * *

Gray strode into the locker room, phone in one hand and water bottle in the other. "Yo, I just got your text. What's up?" he asked, setting his stuff on the bench.

Lyon shut his locker door, grabbing his own water bottle from the bench in between them. "I have something I need to ask you." he spoke, his tone oddly serious.

"What? Is it about the match we just played?" Gray asked, referring to the practice game they had just finished.

The white haired boy sneered, the mention of the soccer game making his seriousness disappear. "What about that game? You finally realize I made more goals than you?"

Gray snorted. "Yeah right. I'm waiting for you to realize that I'm a better player than you anyway."

"A better player that nearly got a concussion last game for using his head more than his feet?"

"Hey, that was quick thinking! I play with the cards I'm dealt."

Lyon suddenly cleared his throat, stepping towards Gray. "No, but really, I have to ask you something."

Gray arched an eyebrow. "Okay. What is it?"

"It's very, very important." He was fumbling with his hands now.

"Yeah, I get it. What is it?"

He took another step forward. "It is imperative to my success."

Gray laughed, "Okay, now you're talking like _Erza_ \- " Lyon suddenly put his hands on Gray's arms. Startled, Gray stepped back. "What the- is something wrong? Why do you look so nervous- "

"You might be mad at my asking- "

"Did you eat the school pudding again? I told you, you can't- "

"I'm only asking because I know you won't- "

"Why are your hands so fucking _sweaty_ \- "

"IT'S ABOUT A GIRL!" Lyon finally blurted out.

Gray stopped, expression slowly changing into a smirk. "A _girl_? And _you_? Wow, who woulda thunk!" he joked, laughing heartily.

Unbeknownst to Gray, Lyon's face was getting redder and redder as he got more and more embarrassed. _I can't tell him it's Juvia,_ he thought as his friend continued laughing, _he'll just make fun of me!_ So he smacked the back of Gray's head. "Not about _me,_ you idiot. It's a question for a...friend."

"A friend? Who? Freed?"

"No, no no, no." Lyon responded, shaking his head. "So I have this friend. And he's starting to like this one girl. But there are a lot of weird misconceptions about her and he knows if he starts showing an interest in her, people will start to question him. Should he go for it or not?" He stared at Gray, hoping he wouldn't suspect anything.

And of course, because it was Gray, he didn't. "So people don't like her?"

"Yes. Well, no. I feel like they don't know her well enough."

"Then go for it."

Lyon's eyebrows raised in shock. "W-what?"

Gray simply shrugged. "Go for it. If your friend is worried about what other people think, then that friend has the problem, not the girl."

Lyon almost laughed, nodding in agreement. "Exactly! I'll do just that!"

"I thought this was a question for your friend?"

"...It is. Thanks, man." Lyon clapped a hand on Gray's shoulder, before leaving to the showers.

Gray stared after him, still confused. "Weird."

* * *

Freed stepped into the desk behind the library, only to scrunch up his nose. The first thing he noticed was the smell. It wasn't strong or overwhelming, but the fact that he could smell it despite its subtlety was annoying. And if that wasn't annoying enough, the person he thought of when he smelled it was nowhere to be seen.

"Freed!" Mira greeted, standing up from her spot behind the desk. "I was reading this article about these weird hieroglyphics, and I thought you'd really- " She stopped, noticing the green haired boy's frown. "What?"

He looked around the room. "There's a smell."

Mira tilted her head in confusion. "A smell?" Her face broke into a smile. "Well, Natsu _was_ in here to check out a Philosophy book, and he did mention something about a burrito- "

"No, no, not that! Trust me, I can _definitely_ tell when Natsu's- " His eyes settled on a black leather jacket that was hanging over a chair. "That." he stated, pointing at the garment.

Mira followed his finger. "Oh, yeah, that's Laxus's." She looked up just in time to catch Freed's brief scowl. "What?"

"What was Laxus doing here?"

"Relax, he was just checking out a book. An opportunity shared by every student at this school." she responded, giggling at Freed's frown.

"You hear how he's always trash talking the school! In my opinion, he shouldn't be allowed in here."

"It's fine, Freed. I'll give it to him later."

"Why would you waste your time to do that?"

She crossed her arms, tilting her head in confusion. "Why don't you like him? I thought you guys were really close."

Freed fiddled with the book in his hands. "We are, and I do admire him, but we just..." His gaze fell on Mira, "We don't see eye-to-eye on certain things."

She raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"

"Nothing." He turned away, hoping she didn't see the faintest bit of pink on his cheeks.

* * *

Ultear looked around the library, scanning the after-school crowd that was seated at the tables. Her heart was beating faster than normal. One part of her hoped she found Jellal, and the other really hoped she didn't. She walked forward, continuing her search, when she ran into someone. "Excuse me." she apologized.

"Ultear!" the person she bumped into greeted.

Ultear turned around and smiled. "Hey, Meredy." she responded, cheerfully greeting her pink haired friend. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I have a huuuge project about Middle Eastern Art due tomorrow, and guess what?" She leaned in, a hand cupped around her mouth, "I haven't started!"

"Yeah, but what's new?" Ultear pointed out, and the two shared a laugh. She hadn't hung out with the other girl in a while, but they had been close for a long time. They even were in a friend group with Jellal, but that was when they were younger.

"Fair enough. What are you doing here? I feel like I never see you anymore!"

"I'm here to tutor someone. It's actually our first session, and I'm a little…" She paused, unable to find the right word. Was she scared? Wary? Nervous?

For what?

"Worried?" Meredy suggested, but shook her head. "If you got _me_ from a C to an B+ in Environmental Science, you can definitely work with anyone!" she asserted, placing a reassuring hand on Ultear's shoulder.

The purple haired girl gave her an appreciative smile. "Thanks, Meredy. But you know that was you focusing on the material and less on the boys that were in the class."

"You know how frustrating they are!" Meredy laughed. She leaned in, her voice lowered. "Speaking of boys, are you and Jellal good? Are you still mad at him for...you know…"

Ultear almost flinched at his name. "We haven't really talked about it...but don't worry, I'm over it."

"Over it? That quick?"

"Well, not exactly- "

"-Hey Ultear, you ready to go?" a new voice interrupted. They turned around to see none other than Jellal Fernandes standing behind them, calculus textbook in hand.

"Wait! _He's_ the one you're tutoring?" Meredy asked, pointing between the two.

"Yep." Jellal confirmed. "Calc isn't as easy for me as it is for Ultear."

Meredy arched an eyebrow as her lips formed into a smirk. "Well, I'm sure you two won't be doing much studying if- "

Ultear stepped in front of Jellal, blocking Meredy and her comment from his view just in time. "Jellal, go save us one of the big desks back there?" she asked. He nodded, walking away. As soon as he was out of earshot, Ultear turned around, glaring at her friend in annoyance. "Really, Meredy? Really?"

"You're no fun!" she pouted, but her face soon turned into a grin. "And to think you told me you'd never be involved with him again." She playfully slapped Ultear's arm. "But look at you now! I told you, you two are the epitome of- "

"-Meredy. This is just a favor. He's really having a hard time, and he doesn't want his grades to slip."

"So, there's no interest at all…?"

Ultear shook her head definitively. "It's a favor."

Meredy's shoulders sank in disappointment. "Oh, alright."

Ultear nodded. "Anyway, I better go. I'll see you in 2nd hour tomorrow?"

"Of course!" she agreed, and the two exchanged goodbyes. With every step out of the library, Ultear's words repeated in her head. _It doesn't make sense._ Meredy turned around again, catching Ultear sitting next to the blue haired boy. Her friend _did_ look a little hesitant, but she saw how naturally Jellal greeted her. She smirked to herself. _Or maybe it does?_ she thought, walking out the library doors.

* * *

I'm happy to include Meredy in this story because next to Ultear, Erza, Lucy, and Cana she's one of my favorite female characters in Fairy Tail. Also about the part about Lucy and her ointment, I've had this headcanon where although Gajeel is all tough and brash most of the time he also worries about little things like sensitive skin and how many pencils he can let people borrow at one time, ya feel? :) I hope you all enjoyed, and leave a review if you did!

-Pinky


	6. In Action

Was this update faster than my last one? I don't know everything's kind of blurring together. Here's Chapter 6 ENJOY

* * *

Mira leaned against her locker, scanning the hallways until a familiar brunette came into view. She couldn't help but jump in excitement when she saw the paper bag her friend was carrying. "You got it?" she asked the second Cana reached her.

"Oh, I got it alright." Cana smirked, nodding to the brown lunch bag in her arm.

"I should've texted you about it earlier, but you know my best ideas can come at times like 6 in the morning." Mira joked, "Was it hard to find?"

Cana shook her head. "Maybe for someone average, but I have my connections."

"What is it? Is it…" The white haired girl smiled giddily, " _Dangerous_?"

"Y'know, I don't really know. But I do know that it will _definitely_ mess up Mr. Conbolt's titration lab." Cana snickered, and handed Mira the bag. "I can trust you with this?"

Mira nodded. "Of course."

"And you know what you're doing?"

"First I mix it up with water. Then I run to the chem lab, put a splash of it in the long tube-y thing, dump the excess, throw away the bag, and then run right to second hour."

"And _only_ in Gray and Erza's lab."

Mira nodded. "Only."

Cana clapped her hands with delight. "You're a natural!" she laughed, and the two started walking down the hall.

"So, between you and me, how'd you get it?"

"...It's better if you didn't know."

* * *

"Erza?"

Erza suddenly snapped out of her thoughts. Her vision focused and she saw Gray sitting beside her, looking at her expectantly. "What?"

"So are you gonna get the sodium hydroxide, or are you gonna keep staring at me?" he asked.

Her face reddened, remembering the important chemistry lab that was currently taking place. She cleared her throat. "Yes, I'll get it." she agreed. She quickly made her way to the back of the lab, beaker in hand. As much as she hated to admit it, Gray was right- she had been staring at him. But for what reason? She looked back at her lab partner, watching him wipe his glasses with the end of his dress shirt. _Right._ She turned back around, nodding to herself. _It's the glasses._

She returned to their table, beaker full of sodium hydroxide. "Okay, did you do the correct titration set-up?" she asked, any trace of her zoning out earlier completely erased.

"I diluted the acid, but there's stuff in the buret."

Erza frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Look." Gray pushed the long, glass device towards her. "There are white streaks down the sides. And I'm pretty sure there's liquid at the bottom of it."

She squinted, and upon seeing the same problems Gray saw raised her hand. "Mr. Conbolt, there are things in our buret."

Their teacher walked over, arms crossed in front of him. "You know, the other tables were saying the same thing…" He squinted at the tube, before shaking his head. "It's probably leftover solution from first hour. You can rinse it if you'd like, but you can still do the experiment." he approved, and walked away.

"Alright." Gray shrugged. He grabbed the beaker Erza was holding and put it under the buret without another thought. "Acid?"

Erza handed him the other beaker. She watched as Gray poured it into the top of the buret. "Turn the knob." she instructed. Gray nodded, turning the blue dial at the bottom of their setup. So far, things, had been going smoothly: their setup was perfect, their measurements were nearly exact, and their results were going well so far. She watched the liquid in the vial slowly decrease. It would have to take something big to mess up this lab.

...and that was all it took.

Between her watching the liquid decrease and Gray reading off the numbers, the liquid in the tube started to bubble. "W-wait- " she stammered, when the bubbles suddenly shot up and out of the tube.

"What the- shit!" Gray exclaimed, jumping away from their setup. The acid spilled out, bubbling rapidly and spreading across the black lab table.

"Gray, what the hell?!"

"It wasn't me! I swear, I did nothing- "

"TURN THE DIAL!" Erza suddenly realized, but it was too late- the beaker at the bottom of their setup started to bubble as well, pouring over the edge and onto the table. The clear liquids were now thick, milky substances that coated their table. They watched in horror as their perfect lab was destroyed before their eyes.

"...Oh my god." Lyon, who was across the room, commented, before cracking up. But the white haired boy suddenly stopped, as his lab station began to follow the same demise as Gray and Erza's.

Within a matter of seconds the entire lab was in a panic, the same mess occurring at every table in the room.

Mr. Conbolt walked in, a stack of papers in hand. "I have the lab questions, so come up once you've- " He stopped, seeing the mess around him. "What the- what in the world?!" he exclaimed. "What is this?"

"We were just doing the experiment- " one person explained.

"But something happened- " another stammered.

"It started with Erza and Gray-sama!" Juvia blurted, pointing to Gray and Erza's table.

Mr. Conbolt turned to the two of them. "You two?"

Erza held her hands up in embarrassment. "Mr. Conbolt, if I can explain, I had _nothing_ to do- "

Gray scoffed. " _You_ had nothing to do with it? You had just as much to do with it as I did!"

"I meant that we didn't do anything- "

Mr. Conbolt held up a hand, and the two stopped talking. "I want every table to have this clean by the end of the hour, but I also expect to see the two of you," he pointed to Gray and Erza, "after school." As he walked away he shook his head. "In all my years of teaching…" he muttered.

Erza turned to Gray. "Great. I'll be missing debate due to your shenanigans."

Gray scoffed. "You're not the only one missing something. I was supposed to practice with Natsu and Lyon after school."

"I guess we'll be staying for a while, then."

"You better bring food."

"Hand me a towel, Gray."

"...Or not."

* * *

Lyon walked into his third hour, recognizing two of his friends seated in the center of the room. He took his seat in front of them. "Hey, Mira. Cana." he greeted, nodding at both of them.

"Hey Lyon." Cana responded, turning to him. "What's up?"

He shrugged. "Not much. Did you do last night's homework?" he asked, referring to the half-page of notes on Egyptian art.

Cana snorted. "Did you really ask _me_ that?"

"Of course you both didn't." Mira laughed, handing Lyon her notes.

"Thanks, Mira." he responded, taking the sheet of paper gratefully. "You know, Cana, you should really start doing some homework." he pointed out, rapidly copying down her answers onto his own sheet of paper.

The brunette waved his comment off. "Yeah, yeah, I know. I'll have it done before class is over."

"Why don't you do it now?" Mira asked.

"Because right now I want to relax." Cana responded, leaning back in her seat. "And besides, Mira, you're in no position to tell me what I should do."

Lyon sat up, hearing her oddly confrontational comment. He hadn't heard of Mira and Cana ever fighting, but he had heard of Mira and Erza fighting. And if Cana and Mira fighting was anything like that, he knew he had to stop it. "Hey, there's no need for that…"

Mira scoffed, Lyon's comment going unnoticed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Um...guys…"

Cana leaned forward. "Tell me why I heard about a huge chemistry accident last hour."

"Accident? You mean _miracle_? Thanks to me, Gray and Erza are staying after school together."

"Thanks to _you_ , it all looks suspicious! You were only supposed to put the stuff in their vial, not everyone else's!"

Lyon leaned back in shock, his peaceful intentions now forgotten. 'Wait, that was you guys?"

His comment was ignored once more. "But there was so much of it, I had to distribute it! You know how I feel about wasting things." Mira defended herself.

"But you should have put it in only their vial!" Cana pouted, crossing her arms. "C'mon, we could've gotten an explosion or something- "

" _Wait_." Lyon interjected. The two turned to him, surprised at his sudden change in tone. "You're responsible for the lab thing?"

They nodded proudly. "Yep. Pretty genius, huh- "

"What the hell, you guys? It was funny, I'll give you that. But my trial was completely messed up, and now I won't have the right data to write a perfect lab report!"

Cana frowned. "Relax, would you?"

Mira nodded. "Yeah, we were just contributing to the intervention- "

"Intervention my ass, you guys know how borderline my chem grade is- " He stopped talking when someone stopped at his desk.

"Hello, Lyon." Juvia greeted, holding her books to her chest.

Lyon gulped at her sudden presence. "Hey, Juvia, um, what's up?" he managed to speak.

"Juvia heard your frustration with the experiment, and…" She handed him a packet. "Juvia found the answers online...if you're interested."

Lyon looked at the packet in shock, all his anger now vanished. " I- t-thanks, Juvia." he stammered, taking the packet appreciatively. The blue haired girl simply nodded before walking away.

Cana and Mira grinned at each other as they watched Lyon stare after the other girl. _Interesting._

* * *

Gajeel was slumped forward in his seat. Mr. Clive was at the front of the room talking with a student, and his classmates were talking around him, but he remained silent. He watched the second hand of the class clock tick ever-so-slowly. He wasn't going to talk to anyone around him, so he looked at the person in front of him and kicked their desk, on beat with the ticking of the clock.

Levy turned around, looking at him above her red glasses. "Are you going to stop?"

"When something interesting happens." he responded, his bored expression unchanged.

"Something interesting _is_ happening! Are you reading chapter 12?"

"Does it look like I'm reading chapter 12?" Levy looked at him, noticing that there was nothing on his desk except for his slumped position. He hadn't even bothered to take out his book, nor open his backpack.

She sighed. "Mr. Clive finally gave us reading time, and _this_ is how you spend it?" She wanted to evoke to him _any_ sort of interest in the book, but Gajeel remained the same, giving her nothing more than an unamused grunt. "Alright, fine by me." she stated, turning back around. "The only thing that irks me more than someone that doesn't give my notebook back is someone that doesn't like reading."

Gajeel raised an eyebrow. "Who said anything about a notebook?"

" _Finally_ , someone asked!" She shut her book, turning back around. "I'm talking about Gray! I'm all for helping him out, but honestly I _hate_ it when people take my things." Gajeel shrugged, still unaware as to what she was talking about. "My notebooks! You know, how they're using them to make him seem smarter to Erza, so she won't yell at him anymore…"

He shrugged. "Why don't you just tell him?"

She shook her head. "No, no. You know what? This is good. They can keep them, so they think I'm fine with it. And then out of nowhere- BAM! I'll take them back and that'll be the end of it."

Gajeel snorted. "That's dumb. I say fuck Gray's plan, and get your notebooks back now."

"It's not dumb! This way they'll know I'm not only serious, but also that I'm making a statement."

"Y'know Gray got 100 on this class's chapter 11 quiz, right?" Gajeel leaned forward. "He hasn't read past chapter two."

Levy's brow twitched in annoyance. "You know what? It's fine. I'm sure _Lucy_ will agree with my plan.." And with that she turned back around, continuing her reading.

Gajeel looked at her, before clicking his tongue. He knew Levy wasn't going to do anything about it, but he knew exactly what needed to be done. "Stubborn." he muttered.

* * *

Cana was standing at her locker, not caring that her five minute passing time to 7th hour should be spent walking to her class. She looked into her locker mirror, holding the outside of her eye with one hand and applying a line of eyeliner with the other. While she did have time to get whatever chemical she used for Gray and Erza's chem lab, she didn't have time to finish her makeup.

"Well hello, gorgeous- oh! I mean, _flawless_."

Her hand jerked upward, a black line marking her surprise. _Speak of the devil._ She rolled her eyes before turning around. "Y'know, Hibiki, I'd really like to be able to touch up my makeup in peace."

The blonde haired boy waved off her comment. "But what for? You're beautiful without it."

"You're the reason I'm putting it on!" she scoffed. Hibiki happily raised his eyebrows, but Cana held up a finger. "Ah ah ah, don't flatter yourself. Because you asked to meet so goddamn _early_ this morning, I didn't have time for eyeliner."

"Might I remind you that the meeting was your idea in the first place? And that you asked so last minute?"

She turned back around, licking her finger and wiping off her mistake. "I needed something, and you provided. Thanks, but that's all." She carefully redid her eyeliner, hoping that he would go away.

"That's not what I was thinking."

She put her makeup down, turning to him once more. "Not what you were thinking?" she repeated.

"An eye for an eye, Cana. I gave you the materials, and now you owe me something in return."

"If you're thinking I'm giving you anything from my alc stash, you're greatly mistaken- "

"I'm thinking downtown on Friday night."

She scoffed. "Right. And I'm thinking about quitting school to become a country singer."

"Look, it doesn't even have to be Friday." He shrugged. "I think you're an interesting person, and I'd like to spend time with you." He gave her another one of his smirks. "Or will you not pay back a favor? Because that substance was especially hard to find."

She inhaled deeply, trying to calm her irritation. "You annoy me to no end, I hope you know that. But," She crossed her arms. "I do honor the favor system."

"Is that a yes?"

"I guess. But I'm only doing it 'cause once it's over I'm not spending time with you outside of school again."

"Sounds good to me!" He stepped backward, holding a hand over his chest and bowing. "It's been a pleasure, Miss Alberona."

"Yeah, whatever." she responded, just as the one-minute bell rang. Hibiki gave her a final wink, before walking down the hall to his class. Cana watched him go, noticing the happiness in his step. And while she grit her teeth in irritation, she couldn't help but feel her heart beating the slightest bit faster. Was she... _excited_?

She shook her head. _Absolutely not!_ She slammed her locker loudly, a squeak suddenly sounding from behind her. Cana turned around to see Lucy walking past, startled by her sudden rage. "Cana? What's wrong?" the blonde asked, looking at her cautiously.

"He needs to get out of my life!" she spat, before storming off to her 7th hour class. Lucy stared after her, tilting her head in confusion.

* * *

Mr. Conbolt strode into the chemistry lab, grinning once he saw the two people standing inside. "Great, you both showed up." he greeted.

"Of course, Mr. Conbolt. We're both incredibly sorry and ashamed for our mishap earlier." Erza apologized, bowing her head.

"No worries. Your hour cleaned up surprisingly well. But you know what's weird? None of my other classes ran into the same issue." He shrugged, "Anyway, you're both on dishwashing duty." he spoke, handing each of them a sponge and a towel.

"Dishwashing? I'd rather do extra stoichiometry homework." Gray snorted.

"With the sudden peak in your grades, I'm not surprised that you would." Mr. Conbolt responded, earning an embarrassed expression from Gray. "I expect every beaker, vial, and graduated cylinder in those bins," he pointed to the back of the room, "to be clean by 4:30."

Erza raised her hand. "What about the vials in the glass recycling bin? Do we have to wash those too?" Gray frowned at her gesture. _We're not in class anymore, jeez…_

"No, that won't be necessary. They're all getting recycled anyway." He nodded at the two of them. "I'll be in my office if you need anything." He grabbed his laptop from the front of the room and left, closing the door behind him.

Erza immediately went to the back of the room, grabbing a container of beakers. "What are you doing?" Gray asked, watching her go straight to one of the sinks.

"What do you _think_ I'm doing, Gray?" she responded curtly, turning the water on and coating the beaker in soap.

Gray rolled his eyes. "I know what you're _doing_ , but...why?"

"You heard Mr. Conbolt. He wants everything washed by 4:30, and it's currently 3:37. We have less than an hour to complete this task."

"Yeah, but there are only four or so containers of beakers! We have plenty of time." he explained, stretching his arms in his place. "Did you bring snacks?"

"Listen Gray, I'm bent on getting out of here at 4:30." Erza set a clean beaker in the rack beside her. "And no, I didn't get any snacks."

Gray groaned in annoyance. "Staying an hour after school, and no snacks? I'm calling Lucy." he stated, pulling out his phone.

"You have three containers of beakers to clean out." she warned.

He frowned at her, but he knew she was right. He put his phone in his pocket, before stationing himself at the sink next to Erza's. "You got a technique for this?"

"It's like washing your hands, a concept that I do hope you're familiar with."

"It was a simple question, jeez."

Erza shook her head. "Sorry. I've been a little on edge lately."

Gray snorted. "A _little_?"

"Alright. Slightly more than usual on edge."

"There we go."

"School has been stressful lately."

He chuckled. "Yeah, right." Erza tilted her head in confusion. "Come on, Erza. You're a part of a bunch of clubs, you do sports outside of school, _and_ you have a 4.0. If anyone can balance anything, it's you."

"I've had a lot on my mind lately." She looked at him, noticing that he had tucked his glasses into his shirt pocket, reminding her of his weird change. She almost laughed to herself- she couldn't tell him that his new behavior was what she was thinking about. "It's nothing." Gray then shut off his water, walking to the back of the room. "Where are you going?"

"Sounds like you need a stress reliever." he responded, carefully picking a small vial from the recycled glass bin.

She watched him walk to the middle of the room, raising the small container in the air. She frowned. "Gray, what are you- " She yelped in surprise as he dropped the vial, the glass shattering on the hard, tile floor.

"Hey, look at that!" he laughed, turning back around to grab more.

"Gray, you can't do that! That's, that's...that's vandalism!" she panicked.

"Try it." he told her, holding a small vial out to her.

She frowned at his offer. But she shut off her water and walked towards him, taking the vial in her hand. She hesitated, before letting go, watching the glass shatter below her. But instead of getting angry at him for being a bad influence, she felt...relieved.

Gray applauded her. "Better?"

Erza slowly nodded in agreement. "Yeah..."

He handed her another vial, grabbing one for himself as well. "Same time, alright?" Erza nodded, and they dropped their vials to the floor. They laughed, the glass pile on the ground increasing in size.

Erza threw another one to the ground, laughing as she did so. She held her hand out to Gray expectantly, but the dark haired boy shook his head. "That was the last one." he revealed.

"Oh." she frowned, trying not to show her disappointment. They both stared at each other, an awkward silence falling between them.

"I can pick up the glass- "

"I'll get the broom and dustpan!"

Erza ran to the opposite side of the room. She handed Gray the small broom, letting him sweep the remains back into the glass recycling bin.

While he swept she went back to her sink, washing her remaining beakers. And while the time they had to clean up was cut short by their impromptu activity, for some reason she couldn't help but smile to herself.

* * *

Sorry if all the chemistry terms are confusing. If you can't already tell it's my hardest (but also my most enjoyable) class this year, and I have to review in some way, right? And yes Erza does have a thing for glasses. Also, I knoooowowow that there hasn't been much Nalu at all, but I promise they'll have their thing next chapter! Developing this many characters without making chapters too long is a challenge, but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it soon. I hope you all enjoyed, and leave a review!

-Pinky


	7. Keep the Motion Moving

It's crazy how fast this year is coming to a close! I still feel like I have about a billion things left to do...it's the last exhale before the year is over. Wow time flies. Anyway, enough of me. Here's Ch 7!

* * *

"Ugh, Cana, I don't wanna do this." Gray whined, putting his face in his arms as he leaned on the countertop.

"Hey, I'm suffering just as much as you are." Cana replied, leaning on her arm that was stretched across the counter. It was a pleasant Saturday afternoon, but instead of enjoying their weekend outside the two were inside, studying in Cana's kitchen.

"But this is pointless for me. My grades are soaring right now, I can definitely get a 0 on this test."

"That's because you have Levy helping you!..lucky bastard."

Gray's eyes lit up. "Wait, that's it! I'll give you Levy's notebooks! Then we can go outside." He began searching his backpack. "This will go so much faster than- " His joy suddenly vanished. "Shit."

"What? What is it?"

He slumped in his seat again, putting his face in his hands. "I don't have her notebooks anymore."

"What? Did you get a chance to xerox them?!"

He sadly shook his head. "I had to give 'em back."

"What do you mean you had to give them back?" She crossed her arms, "I swear, if you didn't at least make a profit out of it- "

"Gajeel took them from me."

"Gajeel? Of course! He hasn't done any work since the quarter started." She smacked her hand on the counter. "That self-absorbed _asshole_ \- "

"No, he's not using them."

"So he's selling them? That pierced eyebrow, 50 ear piercings _jerk_ \- "

"He's not selling them either!"

Cana tilted her head in confusion. "Then what's he using them for?"

"I don't know," Gray shrugged. "I was walking to my car after school when he cornered me. He literally grabbed them from me."

"And you didn't do anything?" Cana snickered. "Weak."

"Shut up, it was scary! I don't think I've seen him that mad since that time Lyon took one of his mechanical pencils without asking."

Cana widened her eyes, remembering the occurrence in Biology last year. "Did he say why?"

"I wasn't really paying attention, because, y'know, my _life_ was flashing before my eyes. But from what I remember, he said something like I wasn't allowed to touch Levy's stuff."

Cana arched an eyebrow. "Levy?"

Gray nodded. "Yeah. He was _so_ mad."

"Did he say anything else?"

"Like I said, I was literally about to pee myself. The second I gave him the notebook I got in my car."

"Interesting."

"Speaking of pee," Gray responded, standing up.

Cana pointed behind her. "Down that hall." she shouted after him. She turned back to the precalc homework in front of her, searching for some shred of sense. But the numbers and variables stared back at her, only increasing her confusion. She groaned, stretching her hands out in front of her and touching a certain object. She looked up curiously, seeing her fingertips next to Gray's phone.

Without a second thought she grabbed the device, clicking it on. A four-digit pass code stared back at her. _Damn. Didn't think Gray was smart enough to put a password._ She thought for a second, before typing 'Gray' in numbers. She smirked as the phone unlocked. _Maybe he isn't._

She tapped a specific icon, opening Gray's text messages. Finding the name she was looking for, she quickly typed a message. She put his phone back down just as she heard the bathroom door open.

"What's up?" he asked, sitting back down.

"What do you mean?"

"You look a little on edge. You good?"

Cana waved him off. "Of course. These precalc problems got my heart racin!" Gray raised an eyebrow at her, but laughed anyway. She smirked to herself, trying not to look over at his phone that was on the other side of the table.

* * *

Meredy looked down at the dish placed in front of her. "If that's not a work of art, then I don't know what is!" she exclaimed to their waitress, who smiled in appreciation.

Ultear, across from her, thanked the waitress as well as a plate of food was put in front of her. As soon as the woman went away, she turned to Meredy. "I don't get it. Why do people put so many fruits in their salads?"

Meredy shrugged. "For variety, I guess. I don't think there's any reason otherwise." Ultear nodded, and the two started eating. They were spending their Saturday afternoon together, eating at a small restaurant in Magnolia.

Ultear cleared her throat. "Anyway, I was going to ask how advanced bio is going for you." she asked, referring to Meredy's hardest class.

"You're asking me about bio while we're not in school?" Meredy scrunched up her nose. "No thanks."

"What do you mean? It's a hard class, but it's really fun once you get past- " A blueberry flew at her, catching in the ends of her purple hair. "Meredy, what the hell?!" she almost laughed, flinging the blueberry back at her friend.

"C'mon Ultear, what's up with you?" Meredy whined, pouting in her seat.

"What are you talking about?"

"You're talking about school on a weekend.."

"Okay, so?"

"So! It's school!"

"...And?"

"You know what I mean. You need some spice back in your life!" Meredy began looking behind her, searching for something.

Ultear followed her frantic gaze. "Spice? What spice- "

"Spice, like- ooh! Like that busser! He'd _definitely_ be a nice spice!" Meredy gushed, nodding behind Ultear.

Ultear followed to see Lyon Vastia at a table a little ways behind them, cleaning a table. While they weren't particularly close, his family, Ultear's, and Gray's were all close friends. "Meredy, do you even know who that is?"

"Yeah! He's that hottie from my 7th hour! Damn, if he weren't into Juvia, I would _so_ \- "

"He's also _Lyon_ , who happens to be one of my family friends."

"Alright, so maybe not him. But what about Jellal? I saw how comfy you guys were at the library!"

"You saw us once."

"Still! What's going on with you two?" she asked, sticking a fork in her salad.

Ultear paused, unsure of what to say. "I don't really know."

"What do you mean? He's not dating Erza anymore, right?"

"...It's a long story."

Meredy shrugged. "Start from the beginning."

"Okay." Ultear took a deep breath. "I've known him forever. And we're really close. So of course at some point we liked each other."

"Right."

"But then he started dating Erza. Which was fine, but they'd break up and get back together all the time."

"And?"

"Well, every time they broke up, he always went back to me and started acting on those feelings from before. But then he and Erza would make up somehow, eventually date again, and then he'd leave me out of it. So I'm the permanent rebound girl."

"Jeez, how awful of him." Meredy frowned. "I had no idea, I thought you guys were only having weird fallouts."

"Yeah, it sucked. And thing is, it's not like it hasn't happened in forever. Its happened recently too."

"So why are you spending time with him now?"

"It's for his grade. You know I put friendship first, and I can't stand to see him fail if he asked for my help."

"But what about how he treated you? Doesn't he act the same, to some extent?"

"That's the weird part. He's been really nice, and caring about my well-being and what not."

"Well, what's different from before?"

"Well, he never mentions Erza anymore, or immediately come on to me, and he asks these questions about me that..." Ultear stirred her water around, black straw in hand. "I don't know." She stared at the ice cubes swirling around her glass. "I feel like this time, he's actually trying to get to know me."

* * *

 _Hey Mom,_

 _It's me, Lucy. I know you won't read this, but it's this dumb English project...you know what? It's fine. You taught me to always stay positive no matter what. So maybe you will read this. Anyway, it's really nice outside; I hope you're enjoying the weather too! I am, but not in the way I planned to. Natsu-_

"Luce! Look how big this beetle is!" Natsu exclaimed.

Suddenly beside her Lucy jumped in her seat, hands instinctively covering the paper in front of her. "Natsu, don't scare me like that!"

"Did not! I was already calling to you before, but you were too wrapped up in whatever you're doing to notice." He peered over her hands. "What _are_ you doing, anyway?"

"I- well- Mr. Clive- "

"You're doing _homework?!_ "

Lucy nodded, feeling her cheeks getting warm. "Yeah, I am. So?"

"But it's a Saturday! And we're outside!"

"I have to get something productive done."

"We're doing productive things out here!"

"Digging for beetles is _not_ productivity!"

"Sure it is! Why do you think I asked you to come in the first place?"

"You told me we were doing homework! Thank goodness I actually brought my backpack, otherwise- "

"Natsu! Lucy!" a new voice interrupted. "Look at this!"

Lucy turned in time to see Romeo Conbolt sprinting over. "What is it, Romeo?" Natsu asked excitedly.

Romeo stuck his hands in the space between Natsu and Lucy, hands closed around each other. "The biggest beetle I've ever seen!"

Lucy pulled herself to the other side of the wooden park bench, shaking her head. "Absolutely not!"

"Come on, Lucy! Just look at it!" Romeo urged, holding his hands to her.

Lucy leaned further back. "If you think that's getting _any_ closer to me, you're very, _very_ wrong." she warned.

Natsu looked at her, noting her body language and her wide eyes. He stepped in between them, gently nudging Romeo's hand out of her space. "She doesn't want to." he said, his tone oddly serious.

Lucy looked up at him in surprise. "Natsu, it's fine- " she started, but his serious expression was still throwing her off. _Does that mean…_ Her pace began to quicken. _He cares for my well-being?_

But as soon as the thought crossed her mind, Natsu's cheeky grin reappeared on his face. "She's not _cool_ enough to appreciate them." Lucy rolled her eyes while the two snickered to each other in agreement.

Romeo then cleared his throat, smiling bashfully at Lucy. "Sorry, Lucy. That wasn't very cool."

Lucy returned the smile. "It's fine, Romeo. Just make sure the little guy can breathe." She pointed to his hands.

"Oh, right!" Romeo turned around and opened his hands, the black beetle scurrying back into the grass. "I'm no good with animals, especially in Earth Science. Wendy's always so gentle with them, and I'm not…"

"Wendy? Your lab partner?" Natsu tilted his head, confusion evident. "What does she have to do with anything?"

Lucy's ears perked at the mention of Romeo's classmate and her neighbor. "Wendy?" she raised her eyebrows, and put a hand under her chin.

Romeo nodded. "She's always gentle when we're observing anything."

"Huh. Maybe next time we hang out, she can come too."

Romeo's eyes lit up. "Really?"

Natsu head tilt increased. "Why?"

But Lucy only nodded, gears turning as another plan formed in her head.

* * *

Gray walked down Cana's driveway and opened the door of his car. He sat inside, dumping all his belongings in the passenger seat. He had put his key in, when he heard the buzzing of his phone. He pulled out the device, widening his eyes at the screen before answering it. "Hey, what's up?"

"So where are you." came Erza's voice, commanding as usual.

Gray gulped. "W-what? What do you mean, 'where am I?'"

"I'm asking for your location, Gray. What did you think I meant."

"W-well, I don't know, it seemed kinda random."

"Random? I said I was going to call you later!"

"...Okay...about what?"

"What, did you headbutt too many soccer balls again? I _asked,_ where are you?" she repeated.

"I'm about to go home, but...sorry, what are you talking about?"

"Are you kidding?! You're the one who planned this out!"

"Planned what out?"

She let out a frustrated groan. " _You_ texted _me_ , saying we were getting cake at 4 o'clock!" He heard a dull _smack_ in the background, the image of Erza slamming her hand on the table coming to mind. "And it's 4:23!"

"I was studying for the past three hours, Erza. I didn't touch my phone once." Gray responded defensively. He pulled his phone away from his ear and went to his texts.

"Gray, I don't understand why you continue to argue with me when I'm right." He jumped as Erza's voice filled the car, even more commanding when put on speakerphone.

Shaking off his fear he looked at his last sent text. "I did _not_ text you, that's for sure- " He suddenly stopped, his last text in front of him.

 _Hey, you free at 4? We shud get cake._

His jaw dropped when he saw that the message was not only from him, but also sent to Erza. _But...how?!_

"What? Did you finally realize I was right?" Erza asked. He could practically hear her smirking through the phone.

"Okay, there's a text there, but there's no way I- "

"I guess I'll see you on Monday. And you better have cake, because I took time out of my busy schedule to get ready, only to be disappointed."

"How is that fair?!"

"It wasn't fair to me, that's for sure." she chuckled. "Also, why would even think of abbreviating the word 'should?' You know how incorrect spelling irritates me."

Annoyance welled up in his chest. "Erza, you- " A dull _click_ sounded on the other end. Gray put his phone down, sighing in irritation. If she thought she was getting cake from him, she couldn't be more wrong.

* * *

I'll try to upload the next chapter soon! As usual, do leave a review :) Love y'all.

-Pinky


	8. Nudge

Ayyyyyy here's Ch 8 (finally)(what's new tho)(nothing)

* * *

"Wait, so...you're mad at him?" Lucy asked.

"Yes. Well, no. But yes. He thought my plan was dumb." Levy responded, hands gripped around her backpack straps.

"He must've said that because he was mad about something...did you take one of his pencils?"

"Of course not! You know what happened to Lyon in Biology last year."

"Regardless, Levy, your plan _was_ dumb, and it's also a dumb reason for you to be mad at him!" the blonde laughed as they walked down the hall.

"Whatever. Bottom line is that I don't need his help. I'm an independent woman and I can fix my own problems!" she nodded, puffing her chest proudly.

"True," Lucy shrugged. "Either way, if it doesn't seem like a big deal to me, then it's _definitely_ not a big deal to Gajeel."

"You're one to talk. Weren't you the one that sent me fifteen frantic texts Saturday night?"

Lucy face reddened. "That's different."

"Riiight." Levy pulled out her phone, smirking as she opened her text messages with her friend. "'Levy, you won't believe what happened with Natsu! He _cares_ about me!'" she read.

"That's _different_ \- "

"'It made me so happy to know that he actually cares- '"

"-Alright! I get it!" Lucy interrupted, Levy laughing in triumph. They turned to a familiar set of blue lockers, Lucy opening hers and Levy opening one a couple doors down. "At least I know when I'm being illogical."

Levy scoffed. "I'm not being illogical, I'm just- " She opened her locker, gasping suddenly.

"What? What is it?!" Lucy asked, jumping next to her friend. The blonde raised her eyebrows. "Hey, aren't those your…" she started, but all Levy could do was nod, unable to speak. At the top shelf of Levy's locker were her notebooks, all accounted for and stacked in the order of her schedule. While she was still in shock, Lucy looked at her with a smirk. "Right. Illogical."

* * *

Erza walked to her locker at a hurried pace. She had left her house almost too late- she got to school a mere three minutes ago, leaving her only ten minutes till the first period bell rang. She reached her locker, opening the metal door after spinning her combination. She almost dumped her textbooks in before gasping at the sight in front of her.

Inside her locker was an orange box. But not just any orange box- this box she would recognize from miles away. It was from Tangerine, a local bakery in Magnolia. She hesitantly opened it, only to gasp again: inside was the most decadent, chocolately brownie with- _wait, is that strawberry filling_? She could feel herself drooling.

"Erza!" Mira greeted bubbly, popping up next to her.

Startled, Erza snapped out of her daze. "Mira, hi. What's up?"

"Whatcha got there?" the white haired girl asked.

Erza's hands instinctively wrapped around the item. "Oh, nothing, just... _triple chocolate brownies with strawberry filling._ "

"Ooh, nice. Did you pick some up before school?"

The redhead suddenly frowned, looking between her locker and the dessert in her arms. "Actually, now that you mention it, I have no idea how it got here."

Mira tilted her head, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure. I walked into school, went to my locker like usual, and it was just...here." She turned to Mira, eyes slit. "Someone broke into my locker."

Mira's eyes suddenly widened. "Oh, no, I'm sure it was someone you know."

"No worries, I can easily dust for fingerprints. I took a crime scene investigation class over the summer, so I know how to- "

"I have an idea!" Mira interjected, trying to hide her panic from her red haired friend. "Why don't we brainstorm who has your locker combo? Dusting for prints requires effort on your part, and you never know when that powder will ever come in handy again…" She looked hopefully at Erza.

Erza paused, before nodding in agreement. "Fair enough."

Mira internally sighed in relief. "Okay, so who has your combo?"

She pursed her lips in thought. "Only a couple people," she thought, "Lucy, Gray, Jellal…" Her eyes suddenly widened. "Oh my gosh. What if...what if Jellal gave this to me?"

Mira mentally slapped herself. _I wonder if Cana's having this much trouble._ "Jellal didn't give you that."

"How would you know? He used to buy the same thing when we were dating, I'm sure if he thought about it he would definitely- "

"It wasn't him!"

Erza raised her eyebrow in suspicion. "What makes you so sure?"

Mira gulped under her gaze, but continued anyway. "If you ask me," she leaned in, "I think Gray did."

"Gray? Why would Gray- " Realization dawned on her face. "Of course! He asked me to get cake over the weekend and forgot, but now he feels guilty for making me get ready so he's paying me back!" Erza looked down at the cake in joy. "I must thank him immediately!" she exclaimed, before shutting her locker and running off, box in her arms.

As soon as she left Mira leaned against the metal doors, sighing in relief. "Too close…" she muttered.

* * *

Amidst their the sound of their productive classmates, Mira looked at the brunette across from her with a confused stare. "What do you mean Gray's not here?" she asked.

Cana rolled her eyes. "I'm sayin he's not here! Maybe he has an appointment, or he's just late...but it's already third hour, and he ain't here."

"We'll have to work with it. Did you put it in his locker?"

"Duh. But listen, if he doesn't show up till tomorrow and I have to clean up whatever _moldy_ mess is in there, I can assure you that I will not be a happy camper."

"Relax, Cana. I have a feeling he'll show up."

"Right, your feelings, because those are _so_ reliable- "

"-Cana! Mira!" a voice interrupted. The two looked up from their joined desks to the door, seeing Lucy in the hallway.

"What?" Cana mouthed. Lucy waved her hand at them, motioning for them to come outside. Mira nodded, and they walked out of the room, unnoticed by their working classmates and occupied teacher.

"What's up?" Mira asked, the three of them stepping a ways away from the classroom door.

Lucy smiled excitedly. "I have news!" she giggled, "So I know we already have a plan with Gray and Erza, but- " She frowned, remembering something. "By the way, did you see the brownie Gray got for Erza?"

Cana and Mira exchanged smirks. "Yeah, _totally_ from Gray." Mira snickered.

Lucy looked between the two in wonder. "Hold up, you guys..?" She clapped her hands in delight. "No way! She's totally convinced he did."

Cana shrugged. "Yeah, we're good."

"I don't know how you guys do it." Lucy laughed, "Anyway, I was hanging out with Natsu and Romeo over the weekend, and I found out some things. And I know we're already working on Gray and Erza, but I think- "

"Hold on. Are you finally asking for help with Natsu?" Mira exclaimed.

"What? No!" Lucy shook her head, face reddening. "Romeo was talking about Wendy, and I think they like each other!"

"So?" Cana shrugged.

"So we should get them together!"

Mira laughed. "Lucy, they're babies."

"They are not! Freshman year is where it all starts, after all."

"I don't know, Gray and Erza take up a lot of my time. I love Wendy and Romeo, but I'm not sure if I can handle another." Mira spoke warily.

"What if we incorporated all of them in one plan?"

"I don't know…"

"Wait, that's a good idea." Cana interrupted, the other two turning to her. "I was hanging out with Gray on Saturday, and he was talking about Gajeel and Levy. Apparently Gajeel made Gray give all Levy's notebooks back."

"So you want to spend all that time on them too?" Mira laughed. "God, how will I _sleep_ \- "

"I'm saying it wouldn't be that hard. Besides, what's one more- " They were suddenly interrupted by someone else.

"Hey, Mira." Freed spoke, the green haired boy walking towards them from the classroom down the hall.

Mira's eyes lit up, stepping away from her friends. "Freed! What are you doing?"

"I have Spanish, but I needed a walk. Too much subjunctive, too many forms…" He shook his head, turning to her. "What are you doing?" He motioned at the three of them. "Some sort of secret meeting?"

"What? Secret meeting? Of course not!" Mira shook her head frantically.

"Right, we're doing nothing like that!" Lucy added.

Cana simply rolled her eyes. "Hey, you free on Friday?" she asked Freed. "I'm having everyone over."

Freed shook his head. "I have to work a double on Friday." He turned to Mira. "You should all come visit."

Mira raised her eyebrows. "Visit your work?" She smiled. "Yeah, I should."

Freed nodded, before checking his watch. "I should probably get back. I'll catch you guys at lunch." He gave them a quick wave, before leaving down the hall.

Mira watched him leave. "Wow, that was random." She turned back to Lucy and Cana. "Anyway, what were we talking about?"

"Merging plans?" Lucy reminded her.

"Oh, right." Mira nodded. "I think that'll be fine. We have to be careful, but it might just be easy."

Cana smirked to herself, looking between Mira and Freed's retreating figure. "Of course it will."

* * *

Gray grumbled as he spun his locker combination with a few quick turns of his finger. He was four hours late; lunch was already over, and passing time to 6th period was already going on. It's not like it was his fault to begin with: first he had overslept, then when he finally made his way to school he saw the new taco truck so he had to stop by. And then out of nowhere Wendy called, asking for a ride to school because she was late too. And while he was happy to be out of class for that long, the reality of how much material he had missed was sinking in. He pulled down on the lock in his hand, the device still stuck in place. "Stupid piece of metal…" he muttered.

After trying the third combination he exhaled sharply as the metal circle finally unlocked in his grip. He almost dumped his books in without a thought, when he was interrupted by a hand slamming loudly against his locker door. "Gray!" his intruder greeted bubbly.

Gray jumped back in surprise, rolling his eyes as he recognized his new company. "Cana, what the hell."

"So happy to see you here! Where've you been? It's already 6th hour!" the brunette inquired.

"I had a lot to do. I'm surprised I even- "

"Wow, look at that box! I wonder what it could be?" Cana interrupted.

He frowned, following her gaze to see a neon orange box inside his locker. "Tangerine..?" he read. "That's a library or something...right?"

"It's a bakery, you idiot! Now open it!" she continued.

Gray looked at her suspiciously, but followed her suggestion anyway. His eyes widened as he saw the white frosted, sprinkle coated cake inside. "What...did you do this?" He looked up at Cana, confused. "Why would you- "

"Wow, Gray, that's _amazing_! But gee, if you were to ask me? Hm, well I don't know for sure, but I can probably guess!"

"I didn't ask- "

"Erza did it, of course!"

He frowned. "Erza? Why would she do it?"

"Because she's the sweetest, kindest person I know! To some people, anyway." She winked at him, but his frown told her he wasn't convinced. Without another thought she reached into the box, scooping a handful of cake in her hand. "C'mon, have a bite!" she urged, shoving the yellow cake in Gray's mouth.

"Wha- mmoomph!"

Cana nodded as she watched him chew. "Wow, Erza's the best isn't she? I would be so proud and so thankful. She's amazing, huh?"

"Mmomai mmee mih!"

"I know, you can't believe the assertive, amazing, and attractive Erza Scarlet could ever- "

"Mhelw mhree!"

" _-like_ you, because you're a slob that can't _swallow your food._ " She finally looked at him, but something was strange. His mouth was full so she couldn't understand what he was saying, but his eyes were wide in fear. "What?" she asked. Gray ran to one of the hallway trash cans, spitting out the cake. "Ew, Gray, what the hell?!" Cana almost laughed, stepping away as he walked back.

"That's yellow!" he exclaimed, pointing to the cake.

"Okay, yeah, so?"

"I'M ALLERGIC TO YELLOW DYE!"

Cana's eyes widened, her mind flashing back to making the cake with Mira last night recalling the six drops of food coloring her friend had added. "Dammit, Mira!" she cursed. How could they forget the hives Gray got from the artificial dye?

"Mira?! What the fuck does Mira have to- "

"-Gray, good to see you." The two turned to see Erza standing next to them. "I wanted to thank you for- " The redhead frowned when she saw Gray's angry expression, taking no notice of the orange box in his hand. "What's going on here?"

"This idiot- " Gray pointed at Cana, "made me- "

Cana's eyes suddenly lit up, pushing Gray aside. "Erza, thank god you're here!" she suddenly exclaimed. "Gray was eating something he found on the ground, when I suddenly realized it was yellow cake!"

" _You_ realized?! _I_ was the one that _-_ "

Erza's frown deepened. "But you're allergic to yellow dye." she told Gray.

Gray rolled his eyes, "Yes, I know, but _she_ was the one that- "

"Erza, you must take him to the nurse _now!_ " Cana gripped the redhead's shoulders. "Or he'll get hives in his esophagus!"

"In my _esophagus-_ "

But Erza nodded to Cana, ignoring Gray. She yanked him with her, her signature titanium grip locking him in place as they strode down the hall. Gray looked over his shoulder at Cana, who was happily waving at him. He turned back around, shaking his head. "She's insane."

"Don't speak." Erza instructed.

"What? Why?"

"I don't want you talking with an allergic reaction going on."

"I only get hives, nothing in my throat- "

"Gray. Shut up." She nodded to herself.

Gray shook his head. "Okay, hold on. Answer me one thing, and then I'll stop: why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"Y'know, taking me to the office. I'm perfectly able, and I know your next class is important."

Erza's face reddened slightly, but she shook her head. "I don't want you losing consciousness on your way over." She cleared her throat. "Anyway, I'd like to thank you for the brownies. They're delicious."

"Brownies? I should be thanking you for the cake, I guess. I'm sure it was great."

Erza frowned in confusion, but realized that they were already at the nurse's office. Without a second thought she pushed Gray inside. Gray fell to the ground, yelping in surprise. "Thanks a lot!" she blurted, before rushing to her next class.

Gray stared after her, crumpled on the tile floor. "What the- Erza!" he called, but she had already left. _What was going on?_

* * *

Ultear tilted her watch towards her, exhaling sharply. She was supposed to start tutoring at 3:40, and at the moment it was 3:38 and she was on the other side of the school. She walked briskly down the hallway, hoping her lateness wouldn't affect today's session.

"Hey now, where are _you_ going to so quickly?" Meredy called, jogging to her. They were now walking next to each other, paces matched.

"I have a session that starts in two minutes." She double checked her watch. "One."

"Jellal? It's not like it'll matter to him. He'll be thinking about other things, huh?" Ultear gave her a look. "Y'know, you!"

The dark haired girl rolled her eyes. "Meredy, please. Spare me of your hypotheses."

"It's not a hypothesis! I assure you that you're all he's thinking of."

"Oh boy." Ultear scoffed. "And if I'm not?"

"Then it's up to you. _You_ make the first move."

Ultear's cheeks reddened, but she rolled her eyes. "You're reading those self-help books again, aren't you?"

"Hell yeah! Which, by the way, are amaaazing!" Meredy took her arm. "You have to take the chance. You never know when you'll speak to him next. Like today, you guys could be fine, but what if after this tutoring session you get in a big fight, and vow to never come into contact again?"

"Yeah, right." she snorted. "Why don't you read 'Lord of the Rings' or something?"

Meredy rolled her eyes. "I'm serious! You need to step up and take that chance, because- ooh!" The pink haired girl suddenly stopped walking, looking behind them.

"What is it?" Ultear followed her gaze to see Lyon Vastia at his locker, putting a book in his bag. "Oh, no."

Meredy ignored her remark, already walking towards him. "Remember what I said!"

"Absolutely not!" she called after her, but Meredy had already reached Lyon, the two now talking casually. She chuckled to herself. "Take the chance, huh?" She shook her head and continued her walk to the library.

To her surprise Jellal was standing outside the doors. "Hey." she greeted, but she went unnoticed. Jellal had his phone to his ear, a concerned expression on his face. "Jellal?"

The blue haired boy looked up in surprise. "Hey, Ultear." he greeted, hastily putting his phone into his pocket. "We're in here, right?" he asked, motioning to the library.

"Yeah, let's go." she nodded, stepping inside. She turned around to ask him about his day, only to see his attention was on his phone. _He never uses that thing._ she recalled, giving him one more suspicious look before walking inside.

* * *

-Natsu slumped his shoulders, groaning disappointedly at the sight in front of him. "Dammit, Gray!" he whined.

"What?" Gray asked, turning away from his locker and to his friend.

"Cana said you had an allergic reaction!"

"A potential allergic reaction, but what does that- " He jumped as Natsu suddenly began tugging his arms, inspecting his skin. "Yo, what the hell?"

Natsu threw Gray's arm down. "Not even a single hive!"

Gray shrugged. "Yeah, well Benadryl _does_ work."

"Weak." He raised his hand, shaking his key ring. "Anyway, we goin?"

"Yeah." Gray nodded. He looked in his locker, seeing that the cake Erza left him was still there. He paused, before grabbing the orange box. He shut his locker, walking down the hall with Natsu.

"What's that?" the pink haired boy asked, nodding at the box.

"Oh, this? Erza got it for me," he shrugged, "but I'm pretty sure it has yellow dye, so you can have it- " He paused, seeing that Natsu had stopped walking. "What?"

"Erza? Bought _you_ cake?"

"Yeah, supposedly. Why?"

Natsu erupted into a fit of laughter, holding his sides. "She bought you cake- and you were _allergic_ \- ha!"

Gray rolled his eyes. "Shut up." He looked back down at the box in his hand. "It was nice."

"Wait wait wait. So you're telling me that even though she bought you something you were allergic to and almost gave you an allergic reaction, you think it's _nice_?"

"I guess. It was thoughtful."

Natsu laughed harder. "Gray, you're an idiot." His expression suddenly changed, pointing at the box. "But really, are you not gonna eat the rest of that? I mean you can't, right?"

Gray smacked the back of his friend's head. "Natsu, you're stupid."

* * *

Erza was writing in a notebook, scribbling quotes from the book held in her hand. She looked up slightly, seeing the bright orange box from earlier discarded in her trash bin. She paused, sighed, then continued her writing.

"Okay, what is it?"

She looked up from her homework, seeing Lucy on the other side of her room. The blonde stared at her expectantly. "What's what?"

"It's been five minutes."

"So?"

"You've sighed almost three times every minute."

"...So?"

"So what's the reason?"

"No reason."

Lucy snickered. "I know you, Erza. I'd assume you're annoyed, but you sound too relaxed." she squinted at her. "That, and your stress wrinkle isn't there."

Erza's hand immediately touched her forehead. "Why is everyone mentioning my stress wrinkle- "

"I know it's not that, but something's definitely on your mind."

Her eyes briefly darted to her trash bin, but she shrugged anyway. "Not at all."

But Lucy was too observant. She followed her gaze, seeing the orange box as well. "I knew it!" She clapped her hands triumphantly, "You're thinking about Gray!"

Erza's face instantly reddened. "I am not!" she countered.

"You're still shocked that he brought you that dessert, but you're also really flattered he did so."

The redhead arched an eyebrow, nodding slightly. "It was a nice gesture."

Lucy scoffed. "Nice gesture? That's it? C'mon, go for it already!"

"Go for what?" Erza shook her head. "Gray is my friend."

"A friend that is _very_ special to you."

"Exactly. A special friend." She looked out the window. "I don't think he'd think of me any differently either."

Lucy watched her, rolling her eyes. "Right."

* * *

Sorry for the lack of updates pretty much everywhere. My school year is finally coming to a close as all my extracurriculars are slowly dying down. It's like the middle of the final exhale for me...Anyway, don't you guys worry, this story will be done! I hope you all enjoyed, and leave a review if you did!

-Pinky


	9. Phase Two

Updating twice in one day what whaaaat! P.S. leave a review ;]

* * *

Gray switched his phone to his other ear, sighing in annoyance. "No, Cana, I don't know where to get churros."

" _What do you mean you don't know where? There's gotta be a place!"_ came Cana's voice on the other end. _"_ _Why don't you ask Erza?"_

"Because...wait, what? Why don't _you_ ask Erza?"

" _Uhhh...I can't. You have to."_

"What? I- " He was interrupted by the unexpected chimes of a doorbell. He frowned to himself. "Who could that be?" he muttered.

" _What?"_ Cana asked. Gray leaned back in his chair and opened the curtain a bit, looking down from his room window to the driveway, but there was no car or person in sight. _They probably parked up the street..._

"I'm hanging up on you." he told Cana.

" _What? Why?"_

"We can talk when you get here." he told her, hanging up and putting his phone on his desk. The chimes rang again, the high pitched noise resonating through his house. "Yeah, I'll be there, jeez…" he murmured, making his way downstairs.

The doorbell rang one last time, as Gray grabbed the gold knob and opened the door. "Yeah, yeah, what's up?" he asked, voice the slightest bit annoyed.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be obnoxious."

Gray widened his eyes, their voice suddenly registering. "Erza? What are you doing here?" he asked, shocked.

"I was on my way to Mira's, as the plan originally went, but I realized I live closer to you than her." she told him, referring to their friend group's dinner plans tonight. "So I figured I'd wait here until- " She suddenly reached out, smacking him in the arm.

"Ow! What the hell?!" Gray exclaimed, holding his arm in pain.

"Why aren't you wearing a shirt?!"

"Because I- oh, shoot." Gray looked down at his bare chest in confusion. "I really don't know, I don't remember taking it off…"

Erza groaned, pushing him aside as she walked in. "You have a problem, you know that?"

"Only because you tell me every _freakin_ day…" Gray shut the door after her, massaging his arm. "You want anything? Water, juice, snack?"

"I'm good. We'll be eating soon anyway."

"True." A silence fell between them. "So...how have you been?"

"I've been...okay, I guess. How have you been?"

"Pretty good. Now that soccer's over, I can finally go out and- " He was interrupted by the loud chimes of a cell phone. He stared at Erza, who stared back at him. "You gonna get that?" he asked, referring to her phone.

"Oh. Right." She gave the screen a wary glance, before flicking the volume off and setting it on the counter. "You were saying?"

"Right, so now that we don't have practices every day I can start working, so my project to buy- " He was interrupted a second time by her phone, which was now vibrating loudly on the marble countertop. "You can get that, if you want."

"No! No, it's not important." she responded defensively, "I'll just turn it off." She grabbed the phone, wary expression still on her face.

Gray leaned towards her. "Whoever it is must be- "

"-No one! Important...No one important, I mean." Erza nodded, putting her phone in her pocket.

Gray frowned at her. "Why are you acting so weird?"

"I'm not, I'm simply- " This time Erza was interrupted, but to her relief, it was the doorbell. Gray gave her a suspicious arch of his eyebrow, before walking to the door.

He opened the door to see Mira in front of him. "Hey, I'm just- "

"Gray! I- oh my god, _please_ put on a shirt." Mira shook her head.

Gray looked down, again forgetting he was shirtless. "I didn't mean to!"

"Right. Anyway, you ready? After you get dressed, I mean."

"Yeah, do you want me to- "

"-Oh, are we leaving?" Erza asked, appearing behind him.

Mira looked back and forth between them, eyes wide. "Erza, you're- oh my god!" she shrieked, pointing at them. "You two- no shirt- oh my god!"

Both Gray and Erza's faces reddened. "Stop that Mira, it's not what you think- "

"And you said you didn't remember why you took your shirt off! Liar!" she laughed. "We'll be in the car when you're ready." She winked at the last word.

"Why you…" Erza grumbled, raising her hand to smack her friend.

Gray caught Erza's arm, rolling his eyes. He turned to Mira. "We're fine. As I was _saying,_ do you want me to drive, or do you have your van?"

"I'm driving. So hurry up! And don't make us wait too long." She giggled to herself before running off, barely escaping Erza's hand.

"I can meet you in the car." Gray said, turning to Erza.

"I'll wait for you. If you're not there to hold me back I might give Mira a black eye."

"Alright, I'll be quick." Gray spoke. He sprinted up the stairs to his room, throwing on a gray V-neck shirt that oddly happened to be on the floor. _Maybe I do have a problem_ …he thought, running back downstairs. He looked at Erza, who was standing in the foyer, holding a hand to her still-evident blush. He cleared his throat. "You ready?"

"Yeah." Erza nodded, and they walked out. They walked to the end of the driveway, expecting to see Mira's black van, but instead saw her small, silver 5 seater, and their friends standing around it.

"Um, where's the van?" Gray asked. Mira's black van fit eight people including her, and every time they went out as a group they used up all the seats, even the wide trunk. He blinked, but the 5 seater was still in front of them.

"At home, duh! Hop in, it'll be cozy!" Mira laughed.

"I call shotgun!" Cana shouted.

Before Erza could even react their friends had piled into the car...except for her and Gray. "Oh." she realized.

"What're you waiting for? Get in already!" Cana called.

"Yeah, the food'll be cold before we know it!" Natsu added.

"There's no room me and Gray." Erza pointed out.

"Oh, gee, that's a problem," Lucy agreed, looking between her friends. "I guess you'll have to sit on Gray's lap, then!"

A crimson blush fell Erza's face. "What?! On- his lap?!" she spat, surprised.

"Yeah, my lap?!" Gray added.

"Yes, your hearing is spot on. Let's go." Lyon remarked sarcastically.

Erza shook her head, turning around and pointing to Gajeel and Levy, who were walking down the street to Gajeel's car. "It's fine, I'll ride with them."

"No, you _can't_!" Mira exclaimed. Erza stared at her suspiciously. "Uh, I mean, you shouldn't! Because...um…"

"Because...they're claustrophobic! They need to drive by themselves, or they'll get...stomachaches!" Natsu covered frantically. Lucy and Lyon slapped themselves.

Gray snorted. "Stomachaches? And _Gajeel_? Yeah, right." He turned to Erza, "If you're cool riding with them on the way there, I can ride on the way back?" he offered.

While Gray and Erza were talking, Natsu turned to Lucy. "Luce, sit on my lap." he whispered.

Lucy's face reddened this time. "What? Why?!" she whispered back.

"Because, then they won't feel awkward if we're doing it too!"

"And what about Lyon?!"

"You know how big his butt is, my legs would definitely break- "

"No, not that! Won't he feel awkward? Y'know, as he's sitting _in the middle?_!"

"Oh...nah!" Natsu shrugged, and in one swift motion picked Lucy up onto his lap. He yanked Lyon to the center seat and patted the newly opened one. "Hop in, guys! We're gonna be late!"

Gray and Erza stared blankly at the open seat, before Gray took a hesitant step inside. "Alright...I guess." he spoke, looking at Erza warily.

She stepped towards him. "So, um, this is, uh, fine?" she asked, ignoring her blush.

"Just..tell me if you feel uncomfortable, I guess." he gulped. Erza gave him a final nod, before slipping inside and sitting on his lap.

"Alright, now let's get this party started!" Mira cheered, backing out the driveway.

* * *

After what seemed like forever, Mira finally stopped at the restaurant. Lyon was the first one out of the car, leaping over Gray and Erza and gasping for air on the black asphalt of the parking lot. "That was terrible! I couldn't breathe, why didn't you open a goddamn _window_?!" he shouted at Mira and Cana, who had peacefully exited the car.

Cana grabbed his arm, yanking him towards her. "In case you didn't notice-" she hissed, gesturing to Gray and Erza, who were talking to each other, "There are _some things_ more important than your discomfort." Lyon smacked her arm but quieted nonetheless, remembering their plan.

"Guys, I just realized I cashed in my work check! I can spend as much as I want!" Lucy announced, giggling in excitement.

"Agreed, Lucy. I had a good work week as well." Erza added with a proud smile. The seven of them walked inside, ready to eat.

Inside they found Levy and Gajeel already at a large table, browsing menus. The seven of them walked to the podium, standing in front of the host, an old man. "It's past 6, so everyone is $15 a meal." he informed them cheerily.

"I can pay first," Erza spoke, stepping forward. She smiled kindly at the man and reached into her back pocket...only to find that it was empty. She frowned, stuffing her hands in her other pockets.

"What is it?" Mira asked from behind her.

Erza rummaged through her bag frantically. "I..I can't find my wallet..." She looked up to the host, "Sorry, I swear it was just here..." But her search came up empty. She turned to Lucy. "Lucy, can you pay for me? My wallet seems to be missing."

Lucy nodded, "Yeah, of course!" She almost had her money out when Cana slapped a hand on her shoulder. She almost yelped, but realized what the brunette meant. "Uh, sorry, Erza, I forgot I didn't cash in my check. I don't have anything.. _.Cana's_ paying for me."

Cana gave the blonde a glare, before turning to Erza. "Darn, I only have enough for me and Luce. I guess Gray'll have to pay for you, Erza." she said.

The redhead looked at Gray, and shook her head, "Oh no, I'm sure I can-"

But Gray had already stepped beside her. "Don't worry about it, Erza." he assured her, handing his card to the cashier. "For both of us, please."

Erza blushed to herself. "Thanks, Gray." she mumbled. Lucy, Cana, and Mira kept themselves from squealing- Erza's feelings for the navy haired boy were getting more obvious by the second!

"What a nice boyfriend you are! It's hard to find the chivalrous ones these days." the old man commented, giving Gray a cheery smile as he swiped his card.

Gray and Erza looked confusedly between each other and the old man. She chuckled, trying not to show her obvious embarrassment at his comment. "Erm..sorry, sir, but he's...we're not...he's not my boyfriend." she stammered.

"Yeah, she's not my girlfriend." Gray added just as awkwardly.

The old man winked. "You keep tellin' yourselves that. Have a good day, kids." he chuckled. They shuffled off to the side, smiles on their obviously flustered faces.

* * *

Lyon stared at his phone, which was pinging away with messages. He blushed at the screen, seeing that the three new ones were from Meredy, asking if he was free. He had talked to the pink haired girl only a couple days ago, but they'd been texting ever since.

"Lyon! No phones at the dinner table!" Mira scolded him.

The white haired boy flinched in response. "God, Mira, don't yell like that!" He put the device on 'vibrate.' "Besides, it's not my fault. We're still waiting for food." he told her, gesturing to the appetizer bowls that they had just finished.

"Yeah, but while we wait, we can talk about your friend." Cana spoke, snatching Lyon's phone out of his hand. "Who's the lucky lady?"

Lyon barely had enough time to react. "Hey, that's mine- "

"Ooh, Meredy? Who's that?" Cana asked, smirking as she leaned away from Lyon's grasping hands.

"She's just a friend, now would you give that back- "

"Just a friend? With the way _you're_ acting, I'd think you guys were secretly dating."

"Who's Lyon dating?" Erza asked from her spot in the middle.

"No one! I'm not dating anyone!" Lyon responded.

"If he's dating anyone, it's Juvia. Simple as that." Gajeel remarked, pushing his small plate in front of him.

"I'm not dating her either!"

"But if you're not texting Juvia..." Cana's eyes lit up. "Two timer!" she laughed, pointing at Lyon.

"It doesn't matter, Juvia would wait for him either way." Gajeel pointed out.

"Speaking of waiting, where in the world is our waiter?" Levy frowned, looking around the busy restaurant. "He said he'd have the main course soon- "

As if on cue, a fancy pasta dish was placed in front of Levy. "Sorry for the long wait. We had to switch waiters." Everyone looked up to see Freed distributing their dishes.

"Ay, Freed, what's up?" Gray greeted, exchanging a handshake with his friend.

"Freed! You- uh, you look great!" Mira complimented the green haired boy's black and white attire, obviously flustered by his sudden presence.

Freed grinned. "Thanks, it's required." He turned to everyone, "If you need anything, just let me know." he told them, walking off.

Mira reached out for her water glass, gulping the entire thing. "Jesus, what happened with you?" Gajeel frowned.

"This is _not_ happening." Mira shook her head, turning to Cana. "I thought you said Freed _wasn't_ working today!"

Cana laughed. "And where would the fun in that be?" She frowned, seeing Mira put her head in her hands. "Why are you freaking out? It doesn't matter that much."

"Yes, it does," Mira looked up at her. "Because _Laxus_ is coming!"

Lyon laughed loudly. "Are you serious?!"

"Unfortunately, yes." Mira groaned into her hands. "This is _not_ what I wanted."

"Why don't you text Laxus and ask if he can cancel?" Levy suggested, pushing Mira's phone to her.

Mira nodded. "You're right, I should do that." she agreed, taking her phone and typing furiously.

"Fingers crossed he doesn't show up. We barely have enough room as it is." Erza murmured, nudging Cana's outstretched arm out of her vicinity.

Lucy looked around their table. "Speaking of showing up," she frowned, "where's Natsu?" She motioned to the empty seat next to her.

"He's probably giving food to the stray cats outside." Gajeel shrugged, taking a bite from his dish. The rest of them shrugged as well, nodding in agreement.

* * *

"Yo, Freed, this food is _bomb_." Gray complimented his friend, who had come to clear their table.

"Agreed. The chefs are really good." Freed nodded, grabbing their dirty plates and stacking them up in one swift motion.

"I'm not sure if I'll ever be hungry again." Erza chuckled.

"Well, I hope you all have room for dessert, because it's on its way." he informed them, before walking back to the kitchen.

"Dessert?! Count me in!" came Natsu's excited voice.

Lucy whipped her head to him, frowning in shock. "And where did _you_ come from?!"

"Me? I've been here."

"You have not!"

"Have too!"

"Where were you just ten minutes ago?"

"Here!" Natsu scoffed. "You think I'd skip dinner _and_ dessert? Now that's crazy."

"Actually, we'll have to take dessert to go." Mira spoke, worriedly looking at her phone.

"Why? This place doesn't close for a while." Gajeel shook his head, nodding at the clock on the wall.

"Because a certain tall, blonde man plans on joining us shortly."

"What? I thought you texted him to cancel!" Levy asked.

"Yes, yes, I know." Mira put her head in her hands. "But he was coming from rugby, and he was already on his way…"

Lyon shook his head. "Just the thing we needed. A fight between Laxus and Freed."

"Who says they'll fight? They're...good friends!"

Cana laughed. "Please, Mira. As long as you're in the equation their friendship is pretty much nonexistent."

Erza chuckled to herself. "Talk about a dilemma."

"A _Miralemma_?" Gray added.

Erza rolled her eyes. "That's has to be one of the dumbest things I've heard you say." she shook her head, but laughed anyway.

Mira, on the other hand, groaned in frustration. "Ugh, this could not get any worse- "

"Excuse me, Miss?" a new voice interrupted. One of the waiters had walked up to Lucy, tapping her shoulder.

The blonde turned to him. "Yes?"

"I'm Mr. Royston, the manager of this restaurant. Was there a pink haired man sitting with you?"

She nodded cautiously. "Yes, Natsu, he's right here!" She turned to the seat next to her, but Natsu wasn't there. Confused, she turned back to the man. "Sorry, I don't know where he is. Can I help you with something?"

"Yes, control him."

"What- " She followed his finger to see he was pointing at Natsu, who was definitely not sitting next to her. The pink haired boy was across the restaurant, arguing with a couple. The couple looked angry, and Lucy noticed that their bread roll basket was empty. She put her head in her hands as soon as she saw the bread rolls in Natsu's hands, hidden behind his back. "Oh, dear lord."

"If he doesn't behave himself, we will have to kick your party out of the restaurant."

Gajeel laughed, "Oh, _classic_ Natsu- "

"Yes! Kick us out!" Mira interjected, but was immediately shushed by Cana, who wasn't yet finished with her pasta.

Lucy watched as two waiters escorted Natsu back to their table, sitting him next to Lucy. She turned to Mr. Royston. "I'm so sorry, is there any way we can make this up to you?"

"Just make sure it doesn't happen again." he told her, before walking off with his employees.

"Of course!" Lucy apologized. As soon as they were a safe distance away, she turned to Natsu. "And _what_ were you doing?"

Natsu shrugged. "They had extra bread, I was helping them out!"

"Natsu, that's _stealing_."

"Of course, why would I give it back to them? It'd be in my stomach by then."

She turned away from him, putting her head in her hands. "This cannot get any worse."

"Just as you requested," Freed announced, suddenly appearing, "chocolate lava cakes!" he told them, handing the desserts to each of them.

Lyon sat up in excitement. "Oh, finally." he exclaimed. "This is what we needed, thanks Freed!"

"Of course. It's the best dessert we have here, in my opinion."

"Well, it's definitely the best thing that's come out of tonight, am I right?" Gajeel joked.

Levy almost laughed, but rolled her eyes. "Gajeel please, the last thing we need is an expression that gives us bad karma- "

"-Did someone say the best thing?" A new voice exclaimed. They all turned to see Laxus had arrived, still in his rugby warmup. "Hey Mira, you look great." he spoke, walking to the white haired girl. "Is that lava cake?"

"Yes, and it's for _Mira_." Freed interrupted, giving Laxus a raise of his eyebrow.

The two began their usual back-and-forth banter. Mira held her hands between them. "Please, both of you, be quiet!" she said in an attempt to end a potential fight before it started.

Natsu laughed at the three of them. "Hey, talk about dinner and a show, am I right?"

Lucy turned to him. "You're in no position to be laughing at anything. I'm still mad at you for lying to me!"

"What? I did not!"

"You did too! I asked where you were, and you said you were here the whole time!"

"I didn't _exactly_ say that…"

This time, Gajeel laughed. "What we really need is a small room. That would really bring everyone together, huh?" he snickered to Levy.

Erza frowned. "Well, that wouldn't be beneficial to anyone. The last thing we need is your claustrophobia acting up." she responded.

"My what?" the black haired boy asked. Lyon and Cana looked between them, before smacking a hand to their faces.

"Your claustrophobia. Which is what happens when you're in an enclosed space, is it not? Thus a small room wouldn't help."

Gajeel snorted. "Right. I have claustrophobia." he answered sarcastically.

"Yeah, with his _feelings_ …" Levy muttered.

"Wait, what did you just say?" Gajeel asked, turning to the small blue haired girl.

"Nothing, no communication here. _Am I right?_ " Levy added sarcastically, and the two began arguing as well.

While the three arguments around them continued, Gray turned to Erza. "Talk about a mess."

"Right. Maybe getting dinner wasn't the best idea." Erza agreed, laughing slightly.

"I think it's a good idea, but maybe not with... _everyone_."

She nodded in agreement. "Dinner at my house would never get to this point."

Gray raised an eyebrow. "Is that an offer?"

Erza shrugged. "Maybe it is." she responded, smiling at him.

Unbeknownst to them, Cana had heard their conversation. She smirked to herself, continuing to eat her cake. Lyon leaned toward her, rolling his eyes. "Please, tell me you got something out of this whole ordeal. Other than Erza's wallet, I mean."

Cana nodded, smirking at her friend. "Of course I did."

* * *

Now that it's summer I promise I'll be better at updating! I love writing this but I'm also a perfectionist, which is why it takes me so long. Thanks 4 all da love n support, yall the best FR fr :3

-Pinky


	10. On Your Part

Heyyy double digits. I like this chapter, I love the Nalu, and I hope you guys do too :3 This story about to go by real quick. Here we go wheeeeeeee

* * *

Erza opened her front door, Lucy standing in front of her. "Thank you so much for doing this." she spoke as Lucy stepped inside.

"Of course! I would never leave you stranded from school, of all places." the blonde laughed. Erza's car was being fixed, and in turn she was getting a ride to school with Lucy. "You ready?"

Erza nodded, grabbing her house keys from the hook on the wall. "Yes, I'm- " She patted her jacket pocket, feeling that it was empty. "Wait, I left my phone upstairs. I'll be only a second."

Her friend waved her off. "No worries! We're- " She suddenly erupted into a coughing fit.

Erza frowned. "Are you alright?"

Lucy shook her head, holding her elbow to her mouth and a finger in the air. She reached for her waterbottle, taking a long swig. "I'm fine, just a cold."

"Are you sure? I can call Mira, or Cana to drive me, if you're not feeling well."

"It's fine! I'm sure it's nothing."

Erza gave her a reassuring smile, before running up the stairs. She stopped in the doorway of her room. Her eyes scanned her desk, but her phone was nowhere to be seen. "That's weird, I could've sworn I left it up here…" She was searching the bathroom when she heard Lucy yelling to her.

"Your phone's down here, you want me to bring it up?"

Erza heard her cough loudly. "No, I'll come down."

"Wait, you're getting a call. Do you want me to answer it?"

"I- " she froze, remembering the frequent calls she had been getting lately. Her eyes widened in fear. "No, don't!" she told her. She sprinted downstairs, seeing Lucy in the kitchen. She looked at her expression, expecting her to be angry.

Lucy held the device out to her. "It's not a number in your contacts." she said, and then frowned upon seeing her fearful expression. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine." She gave the phone a nervous look, before hanging up. "Probably a butt dial." she shrugged.

"True. It might have been- " She started coughing again.

Erza scrunched her face. "Goodness, you sound awful."

"Gee, thanks." Lucy responded, rolling her eyes.

"Seriously, I can _hear_ the liquid in your esophagus." The redhead reached toward a cabinet by the fridge. "Do you want some cough syrup? Or cough drops?"

"I'm good, Erza, really."

Erza was about to reply when her eyes fell on the clock. "Oh my god, school!" she realized. She ran straight out the front door.

Startled, the blonde sprinted out after her, Erza locking the door behind her. "What's the rush?" she asked, coughing again.

"We're going to be late!" she told her, running down the driveway and getting in the front seat of the car.

"Late? We're twenty minutes early!" Lucy frowned, getting in the driver's seat.

"That will only give us ten minutes to walk to class!"

"It's called five-minute passing time?"

"HURRY UP!"

* * *

Gray walked into the empty lab room. It was lunchtime, so Mr. Conbolt was in the teacher's lounge, but the empty classroom was still off-putting to him. "Lyon?" he called, looking around the room. He reread the open text in his hand. _He said to meet here..._

"-Gray! Good, you're here." Lyon sighed in relief, entering from the door on the other side of the room.

Gray crossed his arms. "Look, I'm honored you want to spend time with me, but meeting in all these places is really- hey!" Lyon suddenly grabbed his shoulders and sat him on a lab stool. The white haired boy calmly sat across from him. "What's wrong with you?"

"I need help."

"Yeah, I got that, but- "

"You remember that friend I was telling you about?" he asked, face completely serious.

Gray recalled their previous conversation in the locker room. "Oh yeah, how's he doing?"

Lyon sighed in relief, knowing that Gray still had no idea his 'friend' was actually Lyon himself. "Fine, but the situation's different now." Lyon clasped his hands together. "What if there's another girl who's showing equal interest in him?"

Gray shrugged. "So?"

"So? How does he decide between the two?"

Gray pursed his lips, shifting his weight. "That's a weird situation."

"I know, I know, and he feels weird about it too, but he really doesn't- "

"-I'd make sure he gets to know each of them well enough, and then decide which is worth his time."

Lyon scrunched his face. "That's it?"

"Well, he should also keep note of who makes more of an effort to get his attention, and in what way. That usually helps a lot."

"Oh. I didn't think of that." Gray frowned. "I mean, I didn't think to tell him. About that. Because I forgot." Lyon stammered, shaking his hands.

"Right." Gray looked at his phone. "Anyway, I'm getting lunch." He stood from the stool. "Next time your friend needs help, tell him to ask me. These 'meetings' you organize are weird as hell."

"Oh, right, of course. I'll, uh, let him know." Lyon agreed. As soon as his friend was out of the room he breathed a sigh of relief. He looked down at his phone, remembering the reason he asked Gray to meet in the first place: on his screen were two text messages from both Meredy and Juvia, asking if he was free for lunch. "I wish it were as easy as Gray made it sound..." he sighed, walking out of the room.

* * *

"Meredy please, I don't want to hear it." Ultear told her friend, holding her hand up.

"But I have a dilemma!" Meredy whined, swatting Ultear's hand out of the way.

"Is it the same dilemma you have every week, of not knowing whether to ask Lyon to have lunch or not?"

"It's different!" Ultear gave her a curious raise of her eyebrow. "...I already texted him that."

The dark haired girl rolled her eyes. "Wow, what a development. I might even faint." she remarked sarcastically.

"Come on, this stuff is hard! Besides, this wouldn't be a problem if you just talked to him for me…"

"Like I said a million times, it's a weird family friend thing. And if you don't know who to eat with, you could, y'know, eat with your _friends._ "

"Actually, now that you mention it, Mirajane asked me to have lunch earlier..." the pink haired girl pondered the thought, but shook her head. "But I want to have lunch with him!"

Ultear sighed, but laughed nonetheless. "Meredy, eat with Mira. It's the best kind of non-conflicting, hormones-free, strictly platonic lunch hour you could possibly- " Her senses suddenly jolted in alarm as she felt an arm drape around her shoulder. Her muscles instinctively tensed, ready to smack whoever it was away from her with two years of kickboxing experience. _Who the fuck-_

"You'll never guess what I'm holding." came Jellal's surprisingly excited voice.

Ultear turned to him, raising an eyebrow. "What's up with you being in my personal space lately?" she remarked, nodding at his arm. Realistically, it wasn't like she minded it. His arm always felt right around her, and it was actually quite an honor to have a body as fine as his so close to hers and... _wait, what?_

Meredy snorted. "PLEASE, Ultear, it's not like you mind it. Either of you, anyway."

Ultear's jaw dropped. Her pink haired friend was far from psychic, but sometimes she had her doubts. "I- what?"

"Come on. There's so much between you two that that isn't a problem at all."

"Yeah, what?" Jellal added, as surprised by Meredy's comment.

Meredy looked at the two of them, a smirk on her face. She clapped her hands together, nodding. "Well, that's all for me. I'll see you two later, I guess." She gave them a wink, before walking away.

Jellal laughed. "When'd she get so direct? Does she have a boyfriend or something?"

"You'd think she does, with all the time she spends thinking about him." Ultear chuckled.

Jellal laughed, but regardless, pulled his arm down, much to her unknowing dismay. "Right, you mentioned a guy she was into." He faced her, cheeky grin on his face. "So, guesses?"

"I'm not quite sure where I'd start."

"True." He smiled, handing a folded sheet of paper to her. "I'll let you see for yourself, then."

She arched her eyebrow at him, unfolding the paper. Her previous sarcasm was suddenly lifted, a red letter staring back at her. "Oh my- Jellal, this is great!" she exclaimed, instinctively pulling him into an energetic hug.

"I know, right? I knew I felt good about the test, but I didn't know I'd get everything right, _and_ extra credit!"

Ultear nodded, smiling at his A+ grade in her hands. "I'm really impressed. Isn't this your third A?"

Jellal nodded. "And the quarter isn't over for another couple weeks."

"I'm proud." she laughed, handing his test back to him. "That can go on your fridge."

"Yeah, it definitely will…" he trailed off, a silence settling between them. "So, I wanted to thank you. None of this would have been possible without you."

Ultear nodded. "You got that right." she responded, sarcasm back in her system.

"No, really, I would probably be getting three C's by now."

Ultear looked at him, seeing him look sheepishly to the ground. She frowned. Did he look...shy? _That's impossible. This is Jellal: bold, charismatic, definitely not someone who would be anything less than confident-_

He looked back at her, snapping her out of her thoughts. "Let's get lunch."

She almost flinched. "Sorry?"

"As a way of saying thanks, I want to get lunch with you. I mean, if you're down."

She nodded, returning his smile. "I'd like that."

He was grinning again, the confidence back on his face. "Alright, great." She felt him nudge her shoulder, turning her to the direction of the school's courtyard. "We can start now."

"Wait, what?" Ultear stammered, turning to him in surprise. "But I- I have- "

"-No lunch plans, so you'll have them with me. Unless you actually do?" He looked at her cautiously.

She shook her head, slowly feeling herself let go. "I don't, actually." she agreed. Her heart was beating faster than usual.

Jellal nodded. "Good. I'm glad." he said, the two of them making their way outside.

She noticed how close they were, his arm casually brushing hers. _Was this really happening?_ Ultear looked at him, noticing the smile on his face, and that she was smiling too. The boy beside her had really changed.

Her walls were finally coming down.

* * *

"So, you're _sure_ Lucy's at home?" Natsu spoke into the phone, driving through the smoothly curved roads of a suburban neighborhood.

" _Yeah, I saw her leaving after second hour. Had a fever, or something. Why?"_ Gray asked from the other line.

"Mm...no reason." Natsu lied, pulling into a driveway outside a massive house. "I'll see you later."

" _What are you talking about? Aren't you at school- "_

Natsu pressed the red circle on the screen of his phone, abruptly hanging up on his friend. He put his phone in his pocket and unbuckled the brown paper bag in the front seat beside him. He held the bag securely against his body, jogging up to the house and ringing the doorbell.

He waited, but nothing came. No movement in the window, no sound of footsteps coming toward the door. He frowned, ringing the doorbell again. He thought for a second, before setting the paper bag on the ground. "A lot heavier than I thought." he mumbled. He paused, pressing the doorbell a third time, only to be met with more silence. "Weird." he muttered. He turned and looked around, checking if the girl he was looking for was outside, but he started to notice the flowers around him instead. It then dawned on him what a beautiful day it was- the sun was out, the pink azaleas in bloom around him. He was about to smell one, just out of curiosity, when he heard a loud buzz against his ear.

"Ah!" he yelped, hearing a bumblebee zoom past him. He looked around, realizing that there were actually _several_ bees around him. He heard another by his ear, smacking it away just in time. He suddenly stood up, looking at his hand. "What kind of bumblebee…"

"Oh, my _god_!"

He spun around: he didn't hear the door open. "Holy shit, Lucy- " He stepped towards her, the blonde holding her eye in pain. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I- "

"What the actual _fuck,_ Natsu?!" she exclaimed, covering her eye with her hand.

"I didn't hear you open the door! And there were bumblebees, and I got scared, and...I didn't hear the door!"

"Okay, but what are you _doing_ here? At my house?!" Lucy seethed, looking at him with her uncovered eye.

"Um, yes. Uh, I wanted to give you something at school, but Gray told me you went home sick, so- oh!" He stepped outside, grabbing the paper bag left on the porch. He closed the door behind them, handing her the bag. "This will help."

Lucy took the bag, walking inside the house. "Wow. What a blessing you are." she remarked sarcastically.

Natsu followed her, trying to see if she was _actually_ mad, but she was faced away from him. "I, uh, I wanted to apologize. For dinner, the other day. I didn't mean to lie to you, or put you on the spot."

"Really? You sure about that? Like how you were sure that my _eye_ was a _bumblebee?!_ " Lucy asked, turning to the kitchen. She set the bag on the countertop, and opened a cabinet, still facing away from him.

"I was quite sure, actually, until I realized it wasn't, y'know, a bumblebee." Lucy was silent. He gulped, sitting down at one of the stools. "I really am sorry about dinner. The last thing I would want is for you to be in trouble. So I got you some gifts." He motioned at the bag, but Lucy still wasn't looking at him.

"That paper bag'll make me forgive you?"

"N-not necessarily. I mean it could help, if you have an open mind- "

"Will it help the _black eye_ you just gave me, on top of my _fever?!_ "

Natsu chuckled. "Black eye? Come on, I'm sure it's not- " Lucy turned around, and Natsu gasped. His eyes widened- the soft skin under her eye was definitely not its usual warm tone. "That's, um...not that bad."

"Natsu, it's purple."

"I would actually call it a _mauve-_ "

"Get out!" Lucy exclaimed, pointing at the door. "You've done enough, so if you're all done with your games I'll be- " she suddenly erupted into coughs, each one shaking her body.

Natsu took that as his cue and jumped up, walking her to the living room. He put his hands on her shoulders, gently sitting her on the white couch. "Stay here." he told her.

She flinched at his seriousness, but glared at him anyway. "Why, so you can get my other eye?" she grumbled, but her comment went unnoticed as Natsu returned to the kitchen. She heard him unwrapping things, and opening various cabinets. "You better not be making a mess in there." she called hoarsely.

Natsu was silent, however, spending a few more minutes in the kitchen before returning to the living room. Lucy watched as he set a tray of food on the coffee table in front of her, before sheepishly sitting in the chair across from her.

She slit her eyes, hesitantly taking the bowl of chicken noodle soup. "What's this? Lunch leftovers?"

Natsu stuck his bottom lip out, pouting. "C'mon Luce, I'm trying my hardest here!"

"You didn't answer the question."

He sighed. "No. I originally brought you chocolate to make up for dinner...But then Gray said you were sick, so I figured I'd stop by the store and get some other things while I was at it."

Lucy stopped sipping the hot liquid, looking at Natsu with wide eyes. "Wait, so this is all for me?"

He nodded. "There's more in the kitchen too. And don't worry, I called myself in absent for the rest of my classes, so I'm here as long as you need me!" he added cheerfully, pointing his thumb to his chest.

Between his unexpected presence and comfort food delivery, Lucy felt her previous anger fade away. She smiled at Natsu. "Wow, thanks. This...really means a lot."

"No prob, Luce."

She felt her heart beat rapidly, making her head feel ten times hotter than it already was. Her thoughts raced wildly as she thought about what to say next. "Natsu, I think I like- " Her confession was cut short by yet another coughing fit. "Jeez, I really am sick." she wheezed.

Natsu took her soup from her, this time laying her down. "Maybe no talking." He stood up, turning around.

"Where are you going?" Lucy asked, sitting up.

"Back to school, duh."

"What? But what about calling yourself in? And being here when I needed you?"

"I mean...yeah, but you're like... _really_ sick. And I don't want ebola."

"What- I don't have ebola!"

"That's exactly what you'd say if you _did_ have ebola, right?" he snickered, giving her a final wave. "I'll check on ya later, Luce!" he spoke, leaving out the door.

"Wait! But I need some- ugh!" Lucy watched him leave, cursing her fever for almost making her admit her feelings for him. _Idiot…_ she thought. But her eyes fell on the tray of chicken noodle soup, and she couldn't help but smile.

* * *

Erza walked down the sidewalk, arms crossed tightly. She was deep in thought, thinking about something she had seen at lunch: Jellal and Ultear, together, outside. Sure, it had been a while since their breakup, and spending time with her friends helped keep her mind off him. And of course, she had seen him and Ultear countless times before- they were close friends, after all. But there was something about today...she frowned, recalling how happy Jellal looked. _He looks so good with her..._

"-Erza?"

She spun her head to the side, seeing a black car pull up to her. Gray was inside, looking out the open window. "Gray, hello." she greeted, surprised.

"Uh...are you headed to Lucy's?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Yes, how did you know?"

"Good," he nodded, "because I am too." He reached over, opening the door. "Hop in."

Erza paused, before nodding in agreement. Lucy did live relatively close to school, but if Gray was offering to drive, she wouldn't pass. And maybe, by some chance, Gray could help clear her mind...somehow.

"Did she ask you to pick up her homework too?" Gray asked, getting back into the road.

"Yeah," Erza nodded, pulling out two biology worksheets. "I'm glad she went home, she sounded awful this morning."

"True. Speaking of going home, did you see Natsu at all?"

"No, why?"

"Just wondering. I haven't seen him at all today." Gray pointed to an upcoming intersection. "Turn here, right?"

Erza nodded. "Maybe he was hungry." she suggested.

"Yeah, probably." They soon arrived into a familiar suburban neighborhood and reached Lucy's house, pulling into the driveway. The two of them grabbed their things, before heading to the front door. Gray rang the doorbell, hearing the chimes echo in the house.

After a few seconds, the door opened. Lucy stood in front of them, wearing an oversized t-shirt and baggy blue pajama pants. "What, no bumblebees this time?" She asked angrily. She paused, blinking at Erza and Gray in front of her. "Oh, hey guys. Sorry." she apologized, stepping back. "Come in."

Gray and Erza walked in, stepping inside hesitantly. "What about bumblebees?" Erza asked.

Lucy held up her hand. "Don't ask."

Gray cleared his throat, looking Lucy up and down. "Sorry Lucy, but you look…"

"...Awful?" Erza finished.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you don't say."

"Well, I'm sure it could be worse. But you're so pale, and your voice, and…" Erza suddenly leaned toward the blonde, facing her completely. "Oh my god, is that a black eye?"

"What? Where?" Gray asked, peering over Erza's shoulder.

Lucy waved them off, shaking her head. "I said, don't _ask!_ But yes, it is Natsu's fault." she exhaled sharply, leading them to the kitchen.

Erza raised an eyebrow. "Natsu- ?"

"NO ASKING! Can I get you guys anything?"

Gray snorted. "Lucy, you're sick."

The blonde slapped her forehead. "Right." she realized, and began coughing.

Erza reached into her backpack, pulling out the worksheets she had brought with her. "These are for bio," she instructed Lucy, placing the sheets on the counter. "If you don't understand something, the class website has the slides we covered today."

Gray nodded, following suit. "These are from English and History," he told her, adding to the Erza's papers, "It's pretty straightforward."

Lucy smiled weakly. "Thank you so much for doing this, guys."

"How have you been feeling?" Erza asked, concerned.

"Pretty okay. I've been sleeping a lot."

"Do you need us to get your other classwork?" Gray added.

"Nah, I got Natsu on that." She fell into another coughing fit, muffling the noise with her arm.

Erza gave her a pitying smile. "Well, if you need anything else, don't hesitate to- " She stopped herself, feeling a familiar vibration in her pocket: someone was calling her. Her face fell, looking warily at her phone.

The two leaned towards her. "Erza? You good?" Gray asked.

"Yes! Fine! Excuse me." she exclaimed. "Gray, I'll be in the car." She left out the door, phone in hand.

Lucy frowned after her. "Hm."

"What?" Gray asked.

"It's weird," Lucy responded, "Someone's been calling her lately, but she never answers it."

Gray put a hand under his chin. "Now that you mention it, she did get called several times before we went to dinner that one night."

"Same with this morning. I looked at the screen, but there wasn't a caller ID on it."

He shook his head. "It's probably nothing. A job interview, or something."

"Still, I hope she's okay…" She started coughing again, more forceful than the last time.

Gray took a step away, instinctively holding the crook of his arm to his face. "Right, so I don't wanna get ebola, or _whatever_ you have, so...I'll see ya later." he told her.

"What- " Lucy groaned, remembering Natsu saying those exact words. "I don't have ebola!" Lucy shrieked hoarsely after him.

"Bye!" Gray called, walking out the door before Lucy could say anything else. He walked down the driveway, seeing that Erza was in the car, looking worriedly at her phone. The uncertainty in her expression was enough to make him frown. _When has she ever looked that worried?_ he thought.

He opened the door, sitting next to her. "You good?" he asked.

Erza swiftly tucked her phone in her bag. "Yes, I'm fine. Is Lucy okay?"

"Yeah, she'll be good." He backed out of the driveway, hoping Erza's expression would change. But her face remained the same, her brows etched with uneasiness. "You sure you're good?" he asked again.

Erza turned to him. "Yes. Why do you ask?"

"Because I can see that line in your forehead."

"Gray, please- "

"And when the stress wrinkle is out, that means something's up. So," he pulled the car to the curb, "what is it?"

Erza shook her hand at him. "It's nothing. Nothing important. I simply...need to prioritize a few things."

Gray raised a brow at her. "Does it have to do with the calls you've been getting?"

Her face immediately reddened. "W-well, yes, but again, it's nothing important. It's just me."

"Well, good. Because we're having lunch."

"I- wait, what?" Erza looked at him, searching for the joke, but he stared at her, just as serious.

"You. Me. Lunch. Tomorrow."

"But...why?"

"Because you look like you need company," he told her, beginning to merge back onto the road, "and I'm fantastic company, if I do say so myself."

Erza slowly nodded. "Alright. Lunch tomorrow, then." she agreed, hoping her smile wasn't too big.

* * *

Ayyyy it done. All your reviews make me happy x10. See u all soon!

-Pinky


	11. Tied Back

Oh em geeeee I'm so excited to write these next middle chapters. Here's chapter 11 aka the start of everything. I hope you all enjoy, and leave a review!

* * *

Juvia stood up from her seat, walking cautiously to a specific person two rows away. She walked through the hum of various conversations around her, before sitting into an empty desk. She cleared her throat. "Hello, Gajeel." she greeted.

Her black haired friend turned around. "What's up, Juvia?" he asked, leaning towards her.

"Juvia needs your help." She lowered her voice. "With Lyon." This wasn't a rare occurrence: he and Juvia had been friends since they were little, and she always went to him for advice.

"Lyon? What about him?" he asked, pen clicking in his hand.

"Well, Juvia thinks she likes him. As a crush. But she doesn't know how to take it further. Juvia is still trying to get over Gray, and…" she looked up from her hands. "Has Lyon mentioned Juvia?"

Gajeel nodded. "A few times."

A pink blush dusted her cheeks. "Wow, what an honor…" she smiled to herself, twirling a lock of blue hair in her hand. "Do you have any advice?"

Gajeel shrugged. "Why don't you just tell him?"

"What? But that's- that's so bold! Juvia could never do that!" she stammered.

Gajeel paused, biting on the silver end of his pen. "Look, if ya like him, then make it obvious." Juvia tilted her head in confusion. "...Which means telling him. Being clear is the best way to go about it."

"But what if he doesn't feel the same?"

"Then he doesn't. You move on."

"Doesn't that make Juvia look...stupid?"

"Nah, this is Lyon. He'll look stupid either way, trust me."

Juvia laughed. "Thank you, Gajeel." she thanked him, bowing her head in appreciation. "Juvia is very glad to have you as a friend."

Gajeel nodded. "Anytime." he responded. As soon as Juvia left he turned back around, only to see Levy staring right at him. He jumped in surprise, shaking his head. "Shit, Shrimp, don't do that. You look like a bug, starin' at me like that…" he muttered.

"Being clear? That's interesting, huh?" Levy asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

Gajeel raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"The advice you gave Juvia." she leaned towards him. "I might have to follow it myself."

"...Okay?" Gajeel shrugged.

"That's it? Just 'okay?'"

He frowned. "This is exactly how you were acting at dinner last week, yeesh. What's up with you?"

"I'm allowed to act any way I want." she stated, crossing her arms. "And by the way, chewing your pen is gross. Even if it's metal."

Gajeel scowled, not even realizing that his pen was in his mouth. "Look, if you have something to say, just say it."

"I've said enough. Besides, talking to you makes me mad, so I'll stop." she responded, turning back around.

"Wait- " Gajeel groaned, knowing it was useless- she wouldn't talk to him for the rest of the day now. He sighed himself, leaning back in his seat. _What was up with her?_

* * *

"Hey, there she is, the woman of the hour!" Gray announced, smiling as he handed Erza a small box.

Erza, on the other hand, was frowning. "I do appreciate you getting me a lunch," she spoke, taking the box into her hand, "but I don't appreciate you skipping school to do so."

"Eh, whatever. It's not like Clive is gonna mark me absent; I got Cana an A on her last math test." They walked to the school courtyard, grass soft underneath their feet.

"An A?" Erza asked, surprised. "Was there any cheating involved?"

"No. Probably because I threatened to take her alcohol stash if she did." Gray laughed, the two stopping to sit in the grass.

"A daring move. Props to you."

"Yeah, I'm the best, I know." Gray laid on his back while Erza sat, the sun shining down on both of them as they ate. "This is off topic, but...do you think Lyon has a thing for Juvia?" Gray asked.

"Juvia? I thought it was Meredy." Erza responded between bites.

"What! He has _two_ girls? And one of them is _Juvia_?!"

"Be nice!" she scolded, slapping his arm. "You didn't know her that well. Lyon might see her in a different light than you."

"I certainly hope so."

"Still mean!" she responded, slapping him again. "Different people look for different things."

"Still weird." He snorted. "What could they see in him? He still wears footie pajamas."

"...I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that." Erza shook her head. "But still. Don't you look for certain qualities in girls?"

"Qualities?"

"Yes. Characteristics, traits, what have you. Don't you look for things when you're into someone?"

He gave her a suspicious look. "Right..." he trailed off, turning back to his food.

"Seriously? I guess you're dimmer than I thought." Erza snickered at his frown.

Gray crossed his arms. "I'm not dim. I just didn't think I'd be talking about this stuff with...y'know, you." he pointed out, blushing slightly.

"Well, if you won't take this seriously, I will." She looked up at the blue sky. "For me...they have to be good looking, of course. And they have to be funny, but naturally funny, and make me happy...and they have to tolerate my assertive and determined mindset." she finished, a proud smile on her face.

Gray snorted. "Please. You'll never find someone as bossy as you are."

She smacked him again. "Shut up. What about you, though? What do you look for in a girl?"

"Well..." Gray paused. "I guess a girl who's smart, pretty, knows how to take charge…" He looked up, seeing Erza's worried expression. "What?"

She shook her head. "Sorry, it should be nothing, but…" She nodded at something away from them. Gray followed her gaze to see Ultear and Jellal sitting together on the other side of the courtyard. Erza sighed, "I've been seeing them. A lot. And it's not like I've haven't seen them before, I mean they _are_ friends, but he looks so happy, and...it hurts."

Gray frowned. He had spent all this time on Erza, trying to get her over Jellal, but she was still sad about him? He felt the same sinking feeling in his stomach. "Come on, he's not the only happy one."

Erza looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"You're happy too. You've been spending more time with us, you seem good, you look great…" He shrugged. "You're both finding happiness in your own ways."

Erza couldn't help but scoff. "Since when did you get so philosophical?"

"Don't know. Must be all the meetings I have with Lyon." he laughed.

She smiled at him. "Thank you, Gray."

"For what, the lunch?"

"...Sure."

* * *

"Yeah, I'm on my way out. I just had to get a book from my locker." Lyon spoke into his phone.

" _That's fine! I'll meet you there."_ Meredy responded cheerfully before hanging up.

Lyon tucked his phone in his pocket, taking a deep breath as he walked down the hallway. School was over, and he had followed Gray's advice to get to know Meredy better. And what better way to do that, than to hang out after school? He had reached his locker, spinning in his combination, hoping to retrieve his chemistry textbook quickly.

"Lyon?" a voice called.

The white haired boy looked up from his locker to see Juvia walking towards him. His heartbeat immediately quickened. "Juvia, hey, what's up?"

"Nothing really. Heading home, but Juvia saw you, and…" She looked at the ground.

"What?" Lyon asked curiously.

Juvia looked up suddenly, meeting his eyes. "Would you like to hang out sometime?"

He froze. His heart had been beating rapidly seconds ago, but now it was stopped. Gray's words echoed in his head- this was exactly what he was talking about. "Erm, yes, uhm, yes. I would like to."

Juvia's face broke into a smile. "Oh! Great!"

"Yeah!" Lyon found himself smiling as well. "I'll text you, but right now- "

"-Lyon!" He turned around, eyes widening in fear as he saw Meredy walking towards him.

"Meredy!" He looked frantically between her and Juvia. "Look, I can explain- "

"Juvia, hey!" Meredy greeted.

"Hi, Meredy." Juvia responded as warmly.

"Have you started the French essay yet?"

"Nope. Juvia still hasn't looked at the rubric."

The two shared a laugh. Lyon looked between them worriedly, the two girls unaware of his current panic. "Wait- you two- you're friends?" he stammered.

Meredy nodded. "We have French together."

"And physics!" Juvia added.

"Duh, how could I forget? We nailed that lab practical."

Lyon watched as they high-fived each other. "Wow, that's- what a coincidence. Wow."

"Yeah, it's all fun." Meredy smiled, and turned to him. "Did you get your book?"

"Um, uh, yeah, I did." he responded, patting the textbook under his arm.

"Great, then we should get going." She turned to Juvia. "I'll see you later, Juvia!" Juvia waved after them, exiting the other way. Meredy turned back to Lyon. "There's a new ice cream place downtown, and I thought we could- " She stopped, finally seeing his bewildered expression. "Uh, you good?"

"YES, of course, I'm great, yeah!" Lyon nodded, shaking his hands.

"Okay!" Meredy continued talking. But Lyon was still out of it, walking numbly beside her. _Could he get out of this situation?_ He shook his head. _He couldn't date both of them, that would be way too complicated-_

"-Is that okay?" Meredy asked, looking to Lyon for approval.

Lyon shook his head. "Sorry, what?"

"Wow, you're just like my dog…" she laughed to herself, "I said I mentioned you to one of my boy friends."

Lyon stopped, frowning. "Boyfriends?" he asked worriedly, the word halting his thoughts.

"Boy friends. With the space. As in one of my guy friends."

He breathed a sigh of relief, feeling his senses go back to normal. "Oh, that's good. Is he captivated by my charm and wit?" he asked, flashing her a cheeky grin.

Meredy rolled her eyes. "I think you'll have to work harder than that." she laughed. They continued walking, eventually getting to Lyon's car. But all the while, Lyon's mind was preoccupied with the previous interaction between Juvia and Meredy. _They're friends, good friends…_ He silently cursed himself. How was he supposed to decide between the two now?

* * *

Hibiki was in his car, parked on one of the side roads of the school. He was waiting for Cana: it was another Tuesday, which meant meeting in their usual spot and getting tacos. His eyes lit up as he saw the brunette walk into view, crossing the street from school.

"Cana!" he called, waving his hand. The brunette smiled, almost reaching him, but…His face fell as he saw her stop at the car in front of him, getting inside. He poked his head out the window, confused expression on his face. "Cana?" he called again, just as the car was pulling away.

The car stopped. A second later Cana peeked her head out, seeing him behind her. He gave her a wave.

"Hang on, Drew, this'll take a second…" she told the boy sitting next to her in the car. She got out, walking to Hibiki's open window. "What?"

He flashed her his trademark smile. "It's Tuesday."

"So?"

Hibiki looked at her expectantly. "Taco Tuesdays? Y'know, the tradition we've been having for a month now." He leaned forward to kiss her cheek, but she stepped back. "What?" he frowned.

Cana put a hand up. "Hold up, what? Since when did we have a tradition?"

Hibiki arched an eyebrow. "Since we've been hanging out nearly every week...and weekend...and- "

"Oh." She shrugged. "Sorry, I have plans."

"Plans?" He almost laughed. "Good one. Who would you have plans with?"

"Drew."

"Who's Drew?"

"He goes to Magnolia University. I met him the other day, and we've been hanging out."

"And you didn't bother to tell me?"

Her frown deepened. "Why would I have to?"

His expression faltered. "...Because I kinda thought we were a thing."

Cana scoffed. "You thought we were a thing? As in a dating thing?"

"Uh, duh." Hibiki looked at her, searching for her hearty laughter that was soon to come, and how she'd tell him this was all an elaborate prank to get him to trust her.

But instead of smiling, Cana snorted. "Right." she snickered, but stopped, seeing Hibiki's serious expression. "Come on, really? What made you think that?"

Hibiki gave her a sarcastic smile. "Oh, no reason. Maybe because we hang out all the time, we're happy to see each other, I get along with your dad, and what's that? Oh yeah, we bang every weekend- "

"Okay!" Cana held up her hand, stopping him.

He smirked. "Alright. So are you done playing games? Because those tacos aren't gonna eat themselves."

But Cana remained still. "Look, Hibiki, we're cool, but I've told you this: I don't date. And I definitely am not dating you." She spun around, walking to Drew's car before he could say anything else. She sat in the passenger seat, slamming the door shut.

"Everything okay?" Drew asked beside her, the two driving again.

"Yeah, it's nothing." Cana responded, crossing her arms. Her words echoed in her head: in her mind they seemed like the right things to say, but...She closed her eyes, trying to ignore the bitter feeling settling inside her.

* * *

Weeeee the next few chapters will be up soon! Hope you liked dis one ;)

-Pinky


	12. Small Surprises

Okay real talk here: the best thing about jetlag is that I can post/write in the ungodly hours of the day. Like I've gotten so much done because I take random power naps throughout the day lmao. ...wait, is that good? Bad? I don't know, but oh well here's Chapter 12! Enjoy :)

* * *

It was a peaceful Friday evening at the Fullbuster residence. Gray walked inside, opening the door with one hand and holding an ice cream cone in the other. "You okay? You got quiet." he asked, turning behind him.

Erza shook her head, following him inside. "Yes, I'm fine. Just brainfreeze." she chuckled, holding a hand to her head. That was half true, after all- she and Gray had just returned from the ice cream shop close to his house, and she had eaten her first scoops too quickly. But she had also just realized that this was another day where she was spending time with Gray- _on her own._ She shook her head- that didn't mean anything, did it?

Gray laughed, leading her to the living room. "True. I could go for another scoop though. What'd you get?"

Erza examined the dish in her hand as she sat down. "Mm...strawberry, chocolate, and...avocado."

Gray sat on the couch next to her, scrunching up his face. "That's disgusting. Why would you do that?"

"It's healthy. I'd much rather eat an avocado than another scoop of fat."

"It's not like it'd make a difference. That's why I got cookies, brownie, birthday cake, lava cake, churro- "

Erza chuckled. "Right. We'll talk when you can't get rid of that potbelly."

"Potbelly?!" Gray sat up, puffing his chest proudly. "My six-pack is doing fine, thank you very much."

"Sure. Just like the five scoops of ice cream in your hand." Erza nodded at the stacked cone he was holding.

Gray looked at the dessert, and glared at her. "Look, just because I didn't opt for the traditional three scoops doesn't mean you have to call me out."

"Alright. I'll enjoy my three, reasonable, _healthy_ scoops, then." Erza shrugged, happily spooning her dessert in her mouth.

Gray rolled his eyes. "Y'know, sometimes you can be- " He was suddenly cut off by the ringing doorbell. He and Erza looked at each other with a frown- it was seven in the evening, and Gray wasn't expecting anyone.

"I thought your parents weren't home?" Erza asked.

"They're not, and they wouldn't use the front door anyway…" He stood up, flicking his head to the door. "Let's check it out."

"What, together?"

"Yeah. If I get mugged, you can beat the guy up." he pointed out. Erza chuckled, nodding in agreement. They walked back to the foyer, and Gray opened the front door.

"Wendy?" they both asked, surprised.

The blue haired girl stood in front of them, looking slightly more shy than usual. "H-hey, guys."

"You good? What's up?" Gray asked. Although Wendy was several years younger than Gray, the two had been friends since she moved down the street from him. She was basically his little sister, and hung out with him and his friends on several occasions.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" Wendy told him, but shook her head. "Well, not really. I was supposed to hang out with Lucy. She said she'd pick me up, so I was waiting outside my house...and then Mira showed up."

"Mira? What'd she want?" Erza asked, frowning.

"I'm not sure, but she said Lucy wasn't free and that I was hanging out with you guys instead." Wendy shrugged.

"That's weird. Well, you're welcome here, of course." Gray nodded, letting her inside.

"And she just left you here? Without any word from Lucy?" Erza asked, shocked.

Wendy nodded. "I thought it was strange, but everytime I called Lucy she didn't pick up."

Erza shook her head. "I can't believe Lucy _and_ Mira would be so irresponsible!" She pulled out her phone. "Let me try calling them and I'll see what's going on, okay?"

"Okay. Thank you, Erza!" the blue haired girl bowed her head gratefully.

"Come on." Gray spoke, leading Wendy toward the dining room. "Are you hungry?"

"Yeah. I was supposed to make dinner with Lucy, but again…"

Gray shook his head. "No worries. Erza and I just ordered a pizza, that fine?"

Wendy nodded eagerly. "That sounds good!"

"Alright." he smiled, and reached in the fruit basket behind him. "But, you should eat this in the meantime."

Wendy opened her hands, catching an orange just in time. "Um, why?"

"Because Erza would kill me if she knew I had given you pizza without something healthy beforehand."

She giggled to herself. "Gray, I'm fourteen. I'm not a baby."

"Fourteen? That's like...what, 168 months?" he joked. "But really, eat it. For safety reasons. Also known as me staying alive for at least another month."

She laughed again, nodding. "Alright." she agreed, peeling her orange.

Erza walked in, frowning. "It's weird. I called them both several times, and I got nothing but voicemail. So I left text messages."

Wendy's eyes widened with worry. "Do you think they're okay?"

"I certainly hope so. I can see Mira not answering, but definitely not Lucy." Erza pursed her lips.

"I'm sure they're fine." Gray responded, looking at the clock. "Hey, the pizza should be here soon."

"You're right." Erza then looked at Wendy. "Are you eating an orange?" Wendy nodded. "...Good." Erza approved, walking to the water glass cabinet. "Fruits are always important, especially at your age."

She rolled her eyes, smiling. "I'm not a child, you don't have to tell me what to eat." She looked at both Erza and Gray. "Both of you."

"That's true, but you're younger than us. We're watching out for you."

"Right," Gray agreed, "And if you're complaining now, you haven't seen anything yet- we still haven't talked about boys."

Erza nodded. "Another true fact. You better get used to this, Wendy."

Wendy crouched in her seat, hiding her embarrassment, when the doorbell rang. She jumped out of her chair, already walking to the door. "I'll get it!" she called. She wrapped her hand around the knob, swinging it open. "I'm ready for pizza- " She suddenly paused, shocked at the sight in front of her.

"Who is it?" Erza called from the dining room.

"Here, I have money." Gray added, opening his wallet as he walked toward the door. He looked up, and frowned. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

On Gray's doorstep was Romeo Conbolt, the blue haired boy just as surprised as they were. "Um, hey Wendy. Is Natsu inside?" he asked.

" _No_ , Natsu isn't. And you can talk to me, not Wendy." Gray spoke, stepping in front of the younger girl.

"Graaaaaay..." Wendy groaned, nudging her way in front of him. "Hi, Romeo. What brings you here?"

"I was supposed to hang out with Natsu. Is he here?"

"No, what makes you think he'd be here?" Gray interrupted again.

"...Is this not his house?"

Gray stepped aside. "I think you should come in." Romeo gulped, walking in as Gray shut the door behind him. The three walked to the dining room, sitting at the table.

"Was that pizza? I'm starving- " Erza stopped, seeing their new guest. "Romeo? What are you doing here?"

The younger boy sighed. "I was supposed to hang out with Natsu. I was waiting outside my house, when Cana picked me up. She said we were going to his house, and she dropped me off here." He held his hands in front of him. "If I had known this wasn't his house, I wouldn't have shown up."

"Yeah right." Gray crossed his arms. "This is about hanging out with Wendy, isn't it?"

"What? No, I was hanging out with Natsu."

"Right. So no Wendy spying for you, huh?"

Erza nodded, stepping in. "Wendy is a good girl. She doesn't need boys visiting her at night."

Wendy sank in her chair, holding her hands over her blushing face. "Guys…"

Romeo held a hand out to her. "It's okay." he assured her. He turned to Erza and Gray. "No, this isn't about Wendy. I really was supposed to hang out with Natsu, but Cana took me here. I have no idea what's going on."

"That's just what happened with me and Lucy today! Except Mira brought me here." Wendy realized.

"No way! What a coincidence!"

"Yeah, it so weird!"

Erza turned to Gray as the other two conversed. "Hm. I guess it wasn't about Wendy." she commented.

"Yeah, I guess not." He looked at the clock, seeing that it was only getting late. "Eh, there's no reason to make him leave now." Gray responded.

Erza nodded, and turned to the younger boy. "Romeo," she interrupted, "would you like to stay for dinner? Wendy is joining us too."

Romeo smiled brightly. "I'd like that!"

"We're having pizza." Wendy added excitedly.

"Yeah, and _no_ hand holding." Gray warned.

" _Gray!"_

* * *

Lucy stood outside a large red door. She had only walked up the driveway, and she was already nervous. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. _It's nothing, this is nothing._ she thought. Which, in fact, was true: she had been to this house plenty of times before. But her reason to be here today...she shook her head. _No reason to be nervous._ Shaking her nerves off, she raised her hand to knock on the door- when it opened.

She gasped in surprise, stepping back. But Natsu was in front of her, beaming. "Heya, Luce!" he greeted cheerfully.

"Natsu- " she frowned. "How did you know it was me? I didn't even knock!"

Natsu shrugged. "I was upstairs, and saw you walking up the driveway. What brings you here?" he asked.

Lucy looked up a the house around her, again realizing that she was, in fact, at Natsu's house. "Well, it's a weird story actually.." She stepped inside. "I was with Mira, and she just dropped me off here."

"Oh." he responded dully.

Lucy's face immediately reddened. "I would have texted you, or called, but I can't find my phone! I was supposed to hang out with Wendy, but as I was leaving my house Mira picked me up and said Wendy was cancelling, so she brought me here…" She shook her head. "I'm so sorry, this is so creepy, and so embarrassing- "

Natsu waved her off. "Relax, I don't mind. I had plans too, but the person cancelled." He led her inside, eventually stopping. "Want anything to eat?"

Lucy stood in awe at the kitchen around her, but at the same time expected nothing less- Natsu's huge appetite had to come with a huge kitchen. "I'm actually starving, if you have anything."

Natsu nodded, opening the massive pantry. "We can start with this." He handed Lucy an apple.

"Wow, healthy. I didn't think you were the type." she giggled, biting into the fruit.

He laughed. "I'm not. I won't eat them, so they might as well be put to good use." He suddenly grabbed Lucy's hand. "Hey, I want to show you something."

Lucy froze, blushing. "Natsu, that's my hand…" she murmured.

He took no notice of her embarrassment. "Come on!" he smiled, and led her up the stairs.

She followed behind him, hoping he wouldn't catch how red her face was. _Was this the moment I had a dream about?_ she thought, following Natsu into a dark room. _Is this where we finally tell our feelings-_

Natsu turned around, putting a finger to his lips. "You have to be quiet." he whispered.

She widened her eyes. "O-okay…" He nodded, flicking on the lights. Lucy was about to ask what was going on, when her eyes fell to the corner of the room. "Oh!" she squealed quietly, falling to her knees.

In the corner of the room was a cat, sound asleep on the floor. He was comfortably resting in his own little bed, tucked under a small green blanket. His dark fur shined in the light, whiskers twitching slightly.

"Natsu, who is this?" Lucy asked, gently stroking the cat's smooth fur. Its dark hairs shone in the light, almost looking blue in the lowly lit room.

"This is Happy. The newest addition to the Dragneel family." Natsu smiled proudly. "I adopted him from the shelter just a bit ago."

"He's so sweet." Lucy smiled, continuing to pet Happy's fur.

"I think so too." Natsu added, brushing Happy's ear. He turned to Lucy. "I'm glad you're here."

"R-really?" Lucy stammered, feeling her nerves act up again.

"Yeah. If Romeo hadn't cancelled we'd be making such a ruckus that Happy here wouldn't be sleeping." he laughed.

"That's- " Realization suddenly dawned on her as she connected another dot. "Wait, you were supposed to hang out with Romeo?" Lucy gave him a suspicious look.

Natsu nodded. "Yeah, but he cancelled. Said something came up."

Recalling her own events with Wendy, she glared. "I'll need to borrow your phone." she told him. _Mira has a lot of explaining to do…_

* * *

"Thanks for stopping by." Jellal spoke, walking into his bedroom.

"Of course." Ultear responded, following close behind him. "You said 'calc emergency,' so I'm here." She looked around his room. "So...what is the emergency?"

Jellal sat on a chair on the side of the room, giving Ultear a sheepish look. "Okay, it's not exactly a _calc_ emergency."

She crossed her arms. "Jellal, if this is one of your ways to help me improve your soccer kicking, I already told you I played soccer for a week when I was five, and cannot help you- "

Jellal held up a hand. "No, no, not that emergency either. Although we can cover that too, if you're offering?"

Ultear narrowed her eyes. "Try again."

"Right, sorry." He cleared his throat. "Um, it's about us."

Ultear raised her eyebrow, sitting down on the bed. She was surprised to hear that one. "What about us?"

"This is going to sound really weird. And I can't believe I'm saying this, but…" He took a breath. "I think I've gotten to know you really well since we started this whole...tutoring thing. And in that time I've started to realize how much I admire you, and...I guess, how much I like you."

Her eyes widened. She felt her heart pounding in her ears as her world began to swirl around her. "Jellal, that's...very nice of you to say."

"I mean, what about youl? Do you feel the same?"

She cleared her throat. "I've had a lot of thoughts about this, and I'm still not quite clear, but I...I like you too." She looked at him, smiling.

He clapped his hands together. "Well, that's that, huh?" he laughed lightly.

Ultear nodded, laughing as well. "I guess it is."

He smiled at her. "Uh, I'm glad you like me too."

"Hard to believe, huh?" she smirked. But she shook her head, knowing his words were exactly the ones she had been hoping to hear. "Um...I am glad you told me."

"Of course. I care about you."

She looked at him shyly. "So...where do we go from here?"

"Well...we could start with this." He leaned forward, smoothly pressing his lips into hers.

All her thoughts suddenly ceased, her doubts immediately disappearing. This was the day she dreamt of, the words she only imagined she would hear. And they had happened, now. Her mind was blank, but she knew one thing for sure: she pulled him closer to her, feeling herself fall back on the bed. _This time is different._

* * *

Ayyyyy we got Jeltear done! Just kidding not done yet. Also some of my favorite Grayza moments are when their parental personalities show thru because of Wendy, so you know I had to put that in here. I hope you enjoyed, and leave a review if you did! The next chapter will be up real soon. And by real soon I'm dead serious it'll be up in like a day haha ;)

-Pinky


	13. Step Forward

Real talk before this chapter starts: I wanted to say how grateful I am for you guys. This is my first time doing a big multichap fic with a lot of characters I ship, which is a process that either makes me want to squeal in happiness or throw my laptop across the room (no in between). BUT you all have been sooo patient and kind. Thank you especially to Absolute-ZERO999 and Genie For Your Wish: I learn so much from you guys and your reviews. You keep everything so honest and real, and I'm so grateful. Much love for you both FR fr.

Again, thank you **so** much! You all make me so happy :3

* * *

It was fourth hour, but instead of being in class, Cana and Mira were in the girls bathroom. Cana was sitting on the edge of a sink and Mira was leaning against the mirror, phones in both their hands. Mira tilted her phone screen to Cana, showing her the messages she received over the weekend. "You're serious? You didn't get any of these?"

Cana shook her head. "Nope. I mean Natsu called me, but that was it."

"Yikes." Mira responded, scrolling through her phone. "I got ten texts from both Erza and Lucy. Luckily I worked things out with them, because I'm pretty sure I'd be dead by now." she giggled. Their weekend stunt to get Wendy and Romeo closer while also getting Gray and Erza to bond was genius, but cost them the rage of both Erza and Lucy.

"Well, I'm glad we're both alive!" Cana remarked, and they both laughed. She suddenly jumped off the sink, walking to Mira. "Wait." She shook her head. "Maybe this is a sign, you know? Like we shouldn't be 'meddling in their affairs' anymore."

Mira almost laughed, but Cana's face remained unchanged. "Oh, you're serious." She frowned. "Hm, I kinda agree. I mean I love meddling, but this has gone pretty far..."

The brunette nodded. "We've lost a lot of time."

"And sleep."

"And trust."

"And resources."

"And money!"

Mira laughed. "You haven't spent a penny on them."

"Have too!"

Mira held up a hand, shaking her head. "Okay, how bout this. We'll leave them alone. And we'll _only_ act if it's an absolute emergency. And it has to be a real emergency."

"What counts as a real emergency?"

"As in someone better be dying before we act again."

Cana smiled. "I like it!" she agreed. "Besides, we're big kids now. If they can't figure out their feelings, then maybe they're not there." she pointed out as they walked out the bathroom.

"Wow, how wise! When did you get so knowledgeable?" Mira asked jokingly, following her out to the hallway.

"Shut up, I've always been the smartest!" Cana responded. "Besides, I- " She suddenly stopped, staring past Mira into the open door of a classroom. "Oh, heelllll no!"

Mira stopped as well. She followed Cana's gaze: inside the classroom was Hibiki. But instead of doing his homework like a normal student, he was turned around and talking very close to a girl...suspiciously close. Mira turned to Cana, brows raised in interest. "Oh, shoot. Do you know her?"

"Who the _fuck_ is that?!" Cana demanded, shocked.

"Oookay, guess not."

"He has the _nerve_ to even think I care about what girls he hangs out with!"

Mira tilted her head. "Wait, shouldn't you? I thought you guys were dating, based on how much sex you were having- "

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, but- " Her shock turned to disbelief as she saw the unknown girl put her hand on Hibiki's chest and leaned closer. She whispered something in his ear, before they started laughing. "What the fuck?!"

Mira's eyes widened, sensing the arrival of Crazy Cana. "Hey, calm down- "

"We have to do something! She's way too close- where's the teacher?!" Cana took a step toward the open door, almost entering the room. "Hey, excuse me teacher? You have- "

Mira yanked her friend's arm, dragging her back just in time. "Ohhh no you don't. We are _not_ embarrassing ourselves today." She tugged Cana down the hall.

"Mira! We have to stop them, that's a public display of affection! It's school code 101!"

"I'm pretty sure you two have done far worse things in school."

"Come on, you're holding me back?! This is outrageous!"

"Okay."

"A scandal!"

"Right."

"I'm telling my father- "

"-Are you done overreacting yet?"

"Overreacting?! I am not- " Her words were cut off as Mira smacked her arm. "Okay, okay, jeez! I'm good, I'm good." Cana assured her friend, holding her hands out.

"I'm glad. So what was that all about?"

Cana crossed her arms. "Hibiki and I kinda broke up. And now he's trying to making me jealous." She shook her head. "And he can try. Because he will never, _ever_ make me feel like that!"

Mira watched her friend storm down the hallway. "Oh boy…" she muttered, running to catch up with her.

* * *

Levy walked to their usual lunch table, sack lunch in hand. Her smile faded, seeing that no one was at their table, except for tall, brooding, _annoying_ Gajeel. But this was good: she read online that the best way to tell a boy you were mad at him was to 'spit some roasts.' She smirked, channeling whatever sass was in her body. She straightened up as she walked towards him, ready to show what WikiHow taught her.

She stopped in front of her seat. "Oh, joy, you're here. Where's everyone else?" she asked, sitting across from him.

Gajeel scoffed, already catching her snooty tone. "Settle down. There was an ice cream truck that stopped outside. They wanted to check it out."

 _Ice cream?_ She smirked. _Too easy._ "And you didn't want ice cream? What a surprise."

Gajeel scrunched his face. "Come again?"

"I'd think you'd like something as cold as you are." she told him, proudly puffing her chest. _He'll need every comeback he can get for that one!_

He put his apple down, leaning forward. "Alright, what's wrong with you?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at her.

She gulped, but shook her head. _Channel the sass._ She shrugged. "Nothing."

"Really? Cos that was, by far, the dumbest thing you've ever said to me."

She felt her cheeks redden. "So?" she shrugged again, hoping he couldn't see how embarrassed she was.

"You don't say dumb things." His eyes seemed to slit even more. "So? What's wrong with you?"

Levy shook her head. "Why should I tell you? It's not like you'll care." _Got him!_

"See? More dumb things."

"Not as dumb as you!" she retorted almost immediately.

He raised his pierced brow. "Really?"

She tried to come up with another shady comment, but the glare on his face made her rethink her plan. She sighed, putting her head in her hands. "Ugh, sorry." she apologized, feeling her normal self come back. "I've been acting awful towards you. Ever since dinner. And I suppose I owe you an explanation for all this, because you do deserve it, and- "

"Hey, Shrimp. Get to the point."

"Right. The point." A thought suddenly crossed her mind. Before she had any time to process it, she realized she was already speaking. "Uh, do you want to hang out tonight?"

Gajeel nearly choked on his lunch. "Uh- what? Hang out? Tonight?" he stammered, suddenly nervous and obviously surprised by her question. "Yes, but...isn't it a school night? Or something?" he asked.

"Oh. Yes, it is. But, um, I think I can make an exception. For you." she responded. She lowered her head, hoping it would hide her mad blush.

Gajeel nodded. "Oh, yeah. Sure. Yeah that'd be cool." he responded, trying to be nonchalant but blushing just as much.

"Cool? Oh, wow, I think so too!" she responded eagerly, silently cursing herself for sounding too cheerful. "I- "

"-Hey, we beat that line, huh?" Natsu interrupted, their friends now returned to their table, sitting next to Gajeel.

"That's because there was no line." Cana added.

"There was too!"

"Yeah, until your fat ass bought out damn near the entire truck." Gray commented.

"Yeah Natsu, you were holding so many popsicles you dropped six on your way back here." Erza pointed out, sitting next to Gray. She broke the other end of her popsicle, handing it to him.

"I'm just glad I got one!" Mira remarked.

"Whatever. The early bird gets all the ice cream." Natsu stated proudly.

"Yeah, or pushes everyone out of the way for it…" Lyon muttered.

"Do you want one?" Lucy asked, holding a blue popsicle out in the space between Levy and Gajeel.

Instinctively they both reached out for it, placing their hands on each other in the process. In one quick motion Gajeel grabbed it from Levy. "Hey- " she started to say, when Gajeel took a bite.

She gasped, about to scold him, when he handed the other half to her. "Rest is yours." he told her. She raised her brows in surprise, wordlessly taking the popsicle from him.

Lucy sat next to Mira, noting their small interaction. _Gajeel, sharing?_ she thought, smiling to herself. _That's one for the books._

* * *

Ultear turned the page of her physics textbook, the noise cutting through the silence of the school library. Her eyes were scanning the words in front of her, but she felt something warm wrap around her hand. She flicked her eyes up, meeting Jellal's. "Yes?" she asked.

"You look so good." he told her.

She stifled a laugh. "Uh, what?"

"You. You're so pretty." he continued, leaning towards her.

She shook her head, smirking. "So, I take it you're done with the homework?"

He scoffed. "Of course I'm done."

She leaned across the table, lifting the calculus worksheet from under his elbow. She rolled her eyes at him, putting the unfinished sheet back in front of him. "Nice try." she shook her head, going back to her own studying.

Jellal groaned, slumping over the worksheet. "Can't we be done for today?"

"Hm, who's the tutor here? Oh right, _me_." Ultear smirked, flicking his arm. "Get to work."

"Come on, Ultear." he drawled out. "Let's just hang out today."

She studied him, seeing that he did look quite tired- soccer practices were more and more frequent, and in addition to school and work and now her, he barely had any free time. She sighed. "Alright. But only this once." she agreed.

"Yes!" Jellal cheered, sitting up. "I- " He suddenly paused, seeing his phone one the table. "Actually, I need to make a call first."

"Oh. Okay." she responded, surprised by his sudden request. _Wasn't he just asking to leave?_

Jellal sensed her slight surprise, and knew that suspicion was sure to follow. "Just my mom." he covered, leaning forward and kissing Ultear's cheek. "I'll meet you outside in five, okay?"

She smiled, standing up. "Okay." she agreed, and walked out the library. Her footsteps echoed in the empty hallway. She sighed to herself, holding a hand to her cheek. _How did I get so lucky-_ Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw a figure jump at her. Startled, she stepped back just in time, looking up.

Meredy was standing next to her, staring expectantly. "Are you kidding me?!" the pink haired girl demanded.

Ultear immediately held a hand out. "Hey, don't be so loud- "

"Don't think you can shush me!" Meredy countered, pushing Ultear's hand away. "You think I wouldn't notice?!"

"Notice what?"

"That you and Jellal are dating!" she exclaimed.

Ultear smacked her head. "Oh lord.." she muttered.

"So that's a yes?!"

"Well, yes, but also no- "

"You little urchin!" Meredy smacked her friend's arm. "And I wasn't the first to know?!"

"Hey, watch it!" Ultear warned, but sighed. "Sorry. But we're not really dating."

Meredy tilted her head. "What? Then why're you all over each other?"

"We aren't officially. All we did was say we liked each other, but other than that…" Ultear shrugged.

"Oh. Well, what's keeping you from makin me a proud aunt?!"

"Meredy!" Ultear scolded, shaking her head. "We're taking it slow. You know how much was between us, it's...necessary."

"Alright. Whatever floats your boats." She suddenly leaned in. "But I know you're hoppin on that _di_ \- "

"MEREDY!"

* * *

 _"What do you mean you can't hang out?" Lucy asked from the other side of the call._

Erza shut her car door, her phone tucked in her ear. "Sorry, Lucy, it's a weeknight. I can't hang out on weeknights." she told her friend, shifting her backpack on her shoulder.

 _"Yeah right. I bet you're hanging out with Mira right now."_

Erza chuckled. "I'm not. I'm at Gray's, actually."

 _"Gray?!" Lucy gasped._

 _"_ Relax, we're just studying- " Erza pulled her phone away from her ear, hearing Lucy squeal loudly. "You know I hate it when you do that."

 _"Sorry, I can't help it. Your little study dates…" She squealed again. "It's all too cute!"_

"Studying is not cute. Studying is efficient, effective, rewarding- "

 _"I wasn't talking about studying. I was talking about you and Gray."_

Erza stopped on the sidewalk. Lucy thought they were...cute? "Oh."

 _"That's it? Just 'oh?'"_

"Um, I suppose."

 _"You don't think it's cute?"_

Erza felt her heart beating faster. "I'm not quite sure what to think."

 _"Well, do you like him?"_

Her eyes widened. "Okay, I have to go study now." she responded panickedly.

 _"What? No, not when you were just about to admit- "_

"Goodbye, Lucy!" She definitively pressed the red button on screen, heaving a sigh of relief. _That was a close one._ The last thing she needed was another love lecture from Lucy.

But it wasn't like her friend was saying something outrageous. Erza was aware of how much time she had spent with Gray. It was funny, actually- they had gone from classroom bickering and awkward situations to spending nearly all their free time together. She was also aware of how much happier she felt with him. But feelings for Gray? She shook her head, turning into a familiar driveway. _I'm not sure I'm ready for that._

She walked to the side door, which was open, just like Gray said. "Gray, it's me." she called, stepping inside. "I brought my textbook." She stood up, looking around the empty kitchen. _Where was he?_ She walked through the house, which was still empty. "Gray?" she called again.

"Erza?" Gray responded, somewhere upstairs.

"Where are you?"

"In my room." Gray responded, "Come up."

Erza frowned. "Are you okay?" she asked, walking up the stairs.

"Yeah."

"Okay..." Erza stopped in front of his half closed door. "I'm coming in. You better be dressed."

The door opened for her, Gray now in front of her. "Of course I'm dressed." he rolled his eyes.

Erza steppped in. "Alright, I hope you're ready for derivatives, because-"

Gray held his hands out to her, expression serious. "Wait. I know we planned on studying, and we only have an hour. But I realized I have something tomorrow, and I need your help."

Erza crossed her arms. "What is it."

"You might get mad."

"Who says I'll get mad?"

"You always find a way!"

Erza narrowed her eyes, knowing there was no way she could argue with that. "Explain."

Gray sighed, looking at her bashfully. "I have a family dinner tomorrow," he told her, opening his closet doors, "and I have no idea what to wear."

Erza dropped her textbook to the floor, not sure if she wanted to laugh or get mad. "But our test- "

"-Is on Monday, which means this takes precedence, right?" He looked at her hopefully.

"You're joking, right?"

"No, but- "

"I'm giving you one chance to make me stay, or I'm leaving."

"Okay, okay, okay." Gray walked towards her, his arms still outstretched. "I have to look nice. Because if I do, my parents and everyone else there will be happy. And if they're happy, that means I get to leave whenever I want." he explained.

Erza gave him a look. "I'm waiting for you to tell me that this is a joke."

"It's not!" He gave her a frown. "Come on, help me out here. I need a dependable, reliable, _trustworthy_ person to weigh in on this." he pleaded, gripping her shoulders. "And besides, if I get to leave early, then we can study after!"

She gave him a raise of her eyebrow. "Well, while you're complimenting me…" She sat down on the bed, giving him a nod. "I'd be happy to help you compile an appealing, presentable clothing ensemble."

Gray's eyes lit up. "Okay, I'll take it!" he cheered, and rushed to his closet. "So I'm thinking of this shirt, but they don't go with these pants…" Erza sat on the bed, her conversation with Lucy echoing in her head as Gray showed her a black button down. _Maybe I am ready..._

* * *

I have a headcannon where even though Levy reads intellectual and extremely reputable novels and books, she reads WikiHow articles and actually applies them to her life lol. Also Gajeel is such a dork when it comes to feelings haha. I'm trying to bop these chapters out real quick. Don't forget to leave a review!

-Pinky


	14. Locked In

THIS WAS MY FAVORITE CHAPTER TO WRITE I HOPE YOU ALL LIKE IT

* * *

Although it was a sunny, Saturday evening, Gray and Erza were inside studying. Or rather, Erza was studying, working diligently at the desk in her room. Gray, on the other hand, was laying on his back, sprawled across Erza's orange and coral themed bedsheets. He stared at the ceiling, twirling a pencil in his hand. He tilted his head, seeing a pencil cup across the room. He narrowed his eyes, and giving the pencil a calculated toss-

"Hey!" Erza exclaimed, jumping back from the flying object. She looked at him, eyes wide.

"Sorry." he responded, realizing that Erza was sitting very close to the pencil cup.

"You could have taken my eye out!" she told him.

"Sorry." he repeated, now looking at his hands.

Erza frowned. "Okay, what's the matter?" she asked curiously.

Gray groaned, stretching across the bed. "I'm sooo bored!" he whined loudly.

Erza snorted. "Right. We'll see if bored is how you feel when Mr. Alors gives you the test on Monday."

"I don't care! I already studied, there's no point for me to do any more."

"What's this? The Great Gray is too good for studying?" she joked.

Gray glared at her. "C'mon. I finished those worksheets forever ago, there's no way _you're_ still working on them."

"You're right," Erza nodded, "I'm doing the extra credit packet right now."

"See? Extra work. Something I don't need."

"With your current attitude and borderline grade I'd say it's exactly what you'd need."

"My grade is _not_ borderline. And you know what I need?" He leaned towards her. "Chicken."

To his surprise, Erza chuckled. "Okay. I'll finish this problem, and then we can get some chicken."

Gray raised his eyebrows. "O-okay!" he stammered, sitting up in the bed. It wasn't like her to agree this fast. He smiled to himself- they had finally reached that stage of comfortability, huh?

"But why chicken? It's almost 6," Erza reminded him, closing her notebook. "Doesn't your family dinner start soon?"

Gray groaned, remembering the event. "Ugh, I nearly forgot. But yes, I do. And I'm _not_ looking forward to it." He fell back onto her down sheets, stretching again. "I'd rather stay in your oddly comfortable bed."

"I don't know why you're not looking forward to it. I would love a family gathering, more so one where I can talk about all my accomplishments and future endeavors." She stood up, nodding at the door. "Come on."

Gray rolled his eyes, getting up and following her down the stairs. "That's because you love bragging." he muttered.

"What?"

"What?" he repeated, silently laughing to himself.

"Anyway," Erza shook her head, "I think you should look at this positively. You might get something out of it."

He stared at her. "Wait," He put a hand on her arm, stopping her on the stairs. "Why don't you come with me?" he asked, feeling his heart beat quicker.

She widened her eyes. "What?"

"It doesn't start too soon. You're done studying, I'm done studying, and we can leave early and hang out!"

"Gray- "

"We'd get there right on time for dinner. And it's not like you'd have to get ready, I mean you're already pretty, so- "

"Gray, I- wait, what was that?" she asked, arching her eyebrow.

Gray's face reddened. "I mean, you're already pretty. So you don't have to take forever with that...y'know, makeup stuff."

"One more time? I'm what?" she smirked, cupping a hand around her ear.

"Shut up." Gray responded, face reddening.

She laughed, walking to the front door. "Sorry, I had to be sure." She sighed. "But...I can't go. I have plans with Lucy, and this time they're pretty uncancellable."

He felt his shoulders sink. "Oh. Well, that's fine. No worries." He reached for the door.

She stepped forward. "Maybe next time?" she asked hopefully.

Gray smiled, nodding. "Definitely."

His hand had barely touched the door, when she stepped forward again. "Wait!"

Gray turned around. "Yeah?"

"I...um…" She took a deep breath. "I wanted to thank you. For spending time with me."

He chuckled slightly. "Yeah, no big."

"No, really." She rocked on her heels. "You've helped me a lot, and I've been a lot happier. So...thank you. Very much." She bowed her head, hoping he wouldn't think too weirdly of her gratitude.

"Erza, come on. You don't need to thank me." Gray shook his head.

"Yes I do. If it weren't for you, I'd be stuck in an uncharacteristic cycle of sadness."

"But you're not anymore, and it's because of you."

"...What do you mean?"

"You were stuck in that cycle, sure. But you got yourself out of it." He shrugged. "It's all you. I'm just on the sidelines." he laughed.

She smiled shyly to herself. "Oh. Well, thank you, anyway." she murmured.

Gray smiled at her, taking her hand. "I'll tell you how dinner goes, huh?" he laughed. He squeezed her hand the slightest bit, before leaving out the door.

Erza stared after him, holding one hand in the other. _Did that just..._ She felt her blush deepen. _Did that just happen?!_ She could feel every quick heartbeat, every butterfly...but above all that, she felt confident. Gray was right: she only needed faith in herself. _But he definitely helped a lot._ She smiled to herself- the airy feeling in her head made it absolutely clear: she had feelings for him.

She felt a vibrating in her pocket. She pulled her phone out, and recognizing the number felt a split second of fear. But Gray's words echoed in her head, and she felt herself calm. Taking a deep breath she raised her phone to her ear, answering the call.

"Hello?"

* * *

Ultear's living room was filled with nosy relatives and family friends of all sorts, which normally, was enough to make her nervous for the entire night. But today, she was nervous for another reason. She twirled her hair between her fingers as she watched Jellal across the room, talking animatedly with her parents. She took another gulp of the water glass in her hand- maybe bringing her boyfriend to a family gathering this soon was, well, _too_ soon.

 _Boyfriend._ That was another situation entirely. While she and Jellal had confessed their feelings for each other, they never explicitly said they were dating. They had agreed to take things slow, which was fine with her- she still had a lot of trust to put in him. But at the same time she and Jellal knew each other for too long to _not_ be dating… She shook her head. It was all too confusing. What she needed right now was nothing but a nice, relaxing evening-

"You okay? You look stressed." Jellal spoke, now standing next to her.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." she assured him, waving his words off.

"Well, I'm glad. I think I hit it off with your parents; your mom really seems to like me." he chuckled.

Ultear grimaced, already imagining ten different _and_ embarrassing things her mother definitely told him. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to. Y'know, meet my parents. And all their friends." she told him.

Jellal scoffed, wrapping an arm around her. "Please. You invited me, and I honor that. Besides, I can only stay for a bit, so I might as well make the most of it, right?"

Ultear stared at him, almost surprised: the Jellal she knew before would never have come here- that would be showing too much commitment. She smiled at him, almost laughing. "Wow, how kind of you! Are _you_ okay?" she asked sarcastically.

He nudged her side, shaking his head. "Of course I am. This is something I should have done ages ago, and I'm finally doing it now."

Ultear smiled- she was so lucky. "Well, if my mom tells you anything too uncomfortable, let me know."

He laughed. "I think we're past that."

"Hey, what'd I miss?" a new voice asked. The two turned to see Gray walking towards them.

Ultear shook her head. "Not much. We only got started a bit ago, everyone's still talking." she informed him.

Gray sighed in relief "Good. If I was late your mom would definitely hold that over my head throughout the night." He looked beside her at Jellal, giving him a wary glance. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh." Jellal responded, looking between him and Ultear. "I- uh, we're- um, we just- "

"I invited him!" Ultear blurted.

"Yes! She invited me." he agreed, nodding hastily.

Gray looked between them, but instead of being angry, smiled. "Well, good to see you." he responded, firmly shaking Jellal's hand. If he was here with Ultear, that further confirmed his feelings for Erza were gone, which in turn, made Gray happy.

"Gray! Nice to see you!" The three turned now to see Ur, Ultear's mother, walking towards them. "I'm glad I found you normally, instead of, y'know, following the 'trail of clothes.'" she joked.

While everyone laughed Gray crossed his arms, looking down in embarrassment. "That's not even a real problem..." he murmured.

"Speaking of clothes, look at yours! This is the first time I've seen you look…" She snapped her fingers, searching for a word.

"Put together?" Ultear finished. Ur nodded, clapping her hands in approval.

"Put together? I always look 'put together,' thank you very much." Gray grumbled.

"We don't need to talk about your fashion choices, Gray. But I will say, that's a very nice shirt." Ur complimented.

Gray looked down proudly at the blue chambray shirt Erza had picked out for him. "Yeah, it is."

"Anyway, I've already met Jellal, but where's your girlfriend? You are seeing someone, right?" the older woman prodded, leaning towards Gray.

A certain redhead immediately came to mind. Gray's face reddened as he shook his head. "No, I'm not." he responded.

Ur narrowed her eyes at him, before cracking into a smile. "Suuure. We'll get back to that." she winked, and looked at her watch. "Hey, did you take Lyon with you?" she asked.

Gray frowned. "He's not here?"

"Nope. Guess he doesn't get any food." she laughed. "Dinner will be ready soon, I hope you're all hungry! Especially you, Jellal. It's not fair if you're all muscle, huh?" She gave the blue haired boy a friendly nudge, before leaving them.

"Oh my god, I'm sorry." Ultear groaned, apologizing for Ur's behavior. "She plays _way_ too much."

Jellal waved her off. "It's fine. I think she's hilarious." he laughed, wrapping his arm around Ultear's waist.

Gray watched the two of them, and couldn't help but smile to himself. _She looks happy, for once._ "I'm gonna call Lyon." he told them, excusing himself. He walked to the quiet foyer of the house, still smiling- if Jellal and Ultear were this happy, then maybe he and Erza could be too.

* * *

"Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck." Lyon murmured, finally arriving to Ultear's house. He looped around the street, not a parking spot in sight. "Why do we have family get togethers on the _randomest_ days," he muttered, craning his neck as he drove, "We're not even celebrating anything."

And if they were celebrating something, he wouldn't know- he was currently two hours and seven minutes late. He could already hear Ur roasting him and his tardiness at the dinner table while he ate the scarce leftovers of whatever they were having for dinner.

"Finally!" Lyon cheered, seeing an open spot a ways up the street. He parked his car and got out, slamming the door behind him. "I guess this is punishment for being late." he muttered as he began walking uphill to Ultear's house. But it wasn't like he was late for a bad reason- he was, in reality, hanging out with Meredy. They had gone ice skating, and despite all of Meredy's complaints to the cold and him having to push her in a chair half the time, it had gone really well. He would have invited her to the dinner tonight, if she hadn't had a work shift at the same time.

He finally reached Ultear's door. He was about to open it, when it opened for him. He stopped in his tracks, brows raised in surprise: in front of him, coming out of Ultear's house and dressed in nice clothes, was none other than Jellal Fernandes. While he didn't know Jellal as well, other than Erza's frequent ex boyfriend, he did know that he was close friends with both Meredy and Ultear.

Nevertheless, he was surprised to see him in front of him. "Oh. Uh, hello." he greeted choppily.

"Lyon." Jellal responded, scrutinizing him.

Lyon gulped, stepping forward and putting his hand out. "Hey! Um, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Ultear invited me, actually. Unfortunately I have to go home, but you're here." he responded, making no effort to accept Lyon's handshake.

Lyon awkwardly pulled his hand back. "Oh. Yes, I am." he agreed. _What does he want?_ he thought, unsure as to what Jellal was doing.

"Great." He pulled out his car keys, swinging the key ring around his finger. "Let's take a drive, shall we?"

Lyon chuckled. "Sorry, Jellal, but I have to get inside. I'm very late, and Ur will _kill_ me if I- "

"You're already late, it's not like it'll make a difference. Besides, what's a little drive?" Jellal interrupted, already walking to his car. "Shall we?"

 _Is this it?_ Lyon thought, following him cautiously. _Is this where he murders me and I have to tell my friends what happened as a ghost?_ He shook his head. _This is just Jellal, it's just a drive, relax..._ He put his hand around the handle of the passenger seat, opening the door.

"Nope." Jellal told him, shaking his head. "You're sitting in the back."

Lyon gave him a confused stare. "But…there's stuff in the back." he pointed out, referring to Jellal's massive soccer bags that occupied the backseat.

"Hm. You'll sit behind me, then." Jellal told him, getting in the car. Lyon hesitantly nodded, walking around the car and sitting in the backseat behind Jellal. "Make sure your seatbelt is on. I'd hate to have an _accident_ happen."

Lyon gulped. It was confirmed: Jellal was going to kill him. _Might as well be safe about it_ , he thought, clicking himself into his seat. "Yep, seatbelt is on, A-OK." he responded. He looked out the window, seeing that it was already quite dark outside. _It's been nice, world._

"Alright. We're off, then." Jellal told him, pulling into the street.

They drove in near silence, nothing between them but the low murmur of the radio. Lyon recognized the upbeat pop song, chuckling softly. "Oh, uh, you like this song, huh?" he asked, hoping to lower the awkwardness in the car.

"Just the radio. Which we can turn off, now that you mention it." he responded, clicking the audio off.

Lyon sank in his seat, the silence settling in the car. He tried to meet Jellal's eyes in the rearview mirror, but the blue haired boy had his eyes on the road. Lyon felt how cramped he was in the car, and how small he felt in comparison to Jellal. "Can you, um, move your seat up?" he suggested.

"No."

They fell in silence again, until after a while Lyon cleared his throat. "So, uh, where are we going?" he asked, looking at the streets around him.

"So you and Meredy, huh?" Jellal asked.

Lyon's eyes widened- he hadn't told anyone, not even his friend group about his new thing with the pink haired girl. "Um, yes, what about her?"

"You guys are dating?"

"Um, not quite yet, I think."

"You think?"

"I mean, I don't think. I mean I _do_ think, but I…" He saw Jellal eye him in the mirror, and immediately looked away. "I _hope_ to be dating her soon."

"Mm. Interesting." Jellal commented.

Lyon almost laughed. "Yes, I suppose it is- " He was cut off when Jellal suddenly slammed on the breaks, causing Lyon to slam his head in the headrest of the driver's seat. "Yo, what the fuc- "

"Alright Lyon, I'll make this quick. Not because you're late, but because I actually have to be home." he explained. "I'm sure you know by now that Meredy is a very, very happy girl. She's not only strong, but her energy is boundless. One of the many reasons why she's one of my closest friends."

Lyon froze in his seat, not sure as to where Jellal was going with all this.

"I've been friends with her for around seven years now. And after seven years, you notice things about your best friends. Like exactly when they're happy, annoyed, excited, or when they're upset. Which is why if I ever, _ever_ see her the slightest bit unhappy because of _you,_ " Jellal then turned around, locking eyes with him, "I'll spend every waking moment making your life miserable." He narrowed his eyes. "Do we have a deal?"

While Lyon was scared shitless, he did see the truth to Jellal's words: he really did like Meredy, and the last thing he'd ever want was to hurt her. Lyon nodded panickedly, hoping Jellal wouldn't notice that his hair was nearly as white as his face. "We have a deal. Yes. One deal here. For sure. Yep." he stammered.

Hearing his response, Jellal's dark expression lifted and he smiled at Lyon. "Great!" he responded cheerily, putting the car back in motion. "Let's get back to our evening activities then, shall we?" he laughed.

Lyon looked at him in the mirror once more, seeing the smile on Jellal's face. His mind was racing with a million thoughts, but so far the only clear one was ' _what the fuck is happening._ '

"By the way, I meant to ask you something too." Jellal spoke again.

Lyon felt himself freeze. _What is it this time? My biggest fear? How I'd like to die? What's in my will?_ Instead of answering, he remained silent in the backseat. At this point he had no idea what to think of Jellal, but after all this he knew not to say anything until he was safely back at Ultear's house.

"As you know, I'm dating Ultear. Well, kind of. Not officially. But you've known Ultear. And you're friends with Erza, so you probably know how complicated it was til this point." He sighed. "I wanted to ask your opinion."

 _My opinion? What for?_ He looked at Jellal from the mirror: the blue haired boy looked oddly nervous.

"It took a lot of trust to get Ultear to take me back...again. And I really like her. But I don't know how to really, _really_ show her how much I like her." Jellal flicked his eyes to the mirror, meeting Lyon's. "Do you have any ideas?"

Lyon felt his fear leave, now furrowing his brows in seriousness. "Why don't you date her officially then?"

Jellal shook his head. "I wish it were that easy. Like I said, it's complicated. And she won't admit this, but I need to prove myself to her." The car slowed to a stop as they finally pulled into Ultear's driveway. "Well, anyway, forget that. That was a nice drive, no?" Jellal smiled.

Lyon gulped, feeling the fear come back. "Yes. It was very nice. Yep." he agreed.

"I'm glad. And just so we're still on the same page," Jellal turned around, glaring, "I'll see to it that you're treating Meredy well. And you better. Or you'll wish you were a vegan and lived in Australia."

Lyon gulped. "Of course!" he responded stiffly.

"Good. See you Monday! And who knows, maybe we can double date!" Jellal responded cheerfully, unlocking the car door.

"Yeah okay sounds great!" Lyon practically shouted, sprinting out of the car. He ran inside the house, not even caring whether Jellal had left or not. He slammed the front door behind him, closing his eyes and breathing a sigh of relief. _I almost didn't make it…_

"Lyon? Where have you been?" Ultear suddenly appeared, walking towards him, Gray next to her.

Gray reached over and smacked his head lightly, only to retract his hand immediately. "And you're sweating, jeez! What's wrong with you?" he asked in disgust.

"You have _no_ idea what just happened." Lyon panted. He pointed at Ultear. "Your boyfriend, is _freaking-_ "

Ur walked into the foyer at that moment, joining their trio. "Lyon, you're here, great!" she greeted, pulling him into a hug. "Just in time too, we have lots of dishes that need to be washed!" she laughed.

While Gray and Ultear laughed at him, all Lyon could do was sigh in relief. In comparison to the situation he had just endured, dishwashing sounded like heaven.

* * *

I think Lyon and Jellal is my ultimate BROTP. They clash so much, and if you add Meredy to the equation you get protective older brother Jellal, which makes it 10x better, haha. I hope you all enjoyed, and don't forget that review! See u soon :-)

-Pinky


	15. Clean Slate

I had so many technical difficulties uploading this chapter ;-; but here it is wooo enjoy

* * *

Juvia looked up at the blue sky, almost taken aback by how nice it was outside. The sun shone down on her face, basking her in a ray of morning light. She closed her eyes, feeling the breeze wave her hair.

"Juvia? There was something you wanted to tell me?"

 _Right._ She opened her eyes, turning to Lyon, who was occupying the seat next to her on the bench. "Yes, Lyon, there is." She felt her nerves catching up to her, her heart pulsing in her head. She mentally crossed her fingers, hoping this went exactly as she practiced at home. "Thank you for meeting me, especially before school."

The white haired boy shrugged. "It's no problem."

"Good." She took a deep breath. "Juvia has noticed that you are spending lots of time with Meredy." Lyon suddenly looked worried, but Juvia held up a hand. "It's okay. Juvia's very smart." she chuckled. "Juvia is glad for all the time we spent together, and that we're now friends. Is that...okay?" She looked at him nervously. "To stay friends?"

Lyon almost breathed a sigh of relief: here he thought Juvia was going to make him decide between her and Meredy, putting him in a position that didn't benefit any of them. But she was instead letting him go, in the best way possible. He smiled, nodding. "That is very okay with me."

Juvia sighed, smiling gratefully. "Good," she bowed her head, and stood up. "You've helped me a lot, Lyon. I'm very thankful for that." she smiled, and turned away, walking into school.

Lyon watched after her, eyes wide in surprise. _Did she just-_ He stared after her. _Did she just drop her third person speech?!_ But he smiled to himself. _Thank you, Juvia,_ he thought. _You've helped me too._

He stood up, walking into school as well. He wanted to find Gray- he had helped out with this love triangle the most, after all, even if he didn't know it. He looked around campus, searching for the navy haired boy. _It's almost 8, he's usually out here-_

He stopped in his tracks, his eyes falling to the back corner of the school green. It was an isolated part of the front lawn, and he wouldn't have stopped if he hadn't seen that distinct hair color. Erza was standing there, her back to him. But she wasn't alone. In front of her was Jellal. Lyon narrowed his eyes in suspicion. They were too far for him to read lips, but he could tell that they looked perfectly fine.

He watched as Jellal put a hand on her shoulder. As Jellal turned to leave Erza suddenly grabbed him, pulling him into a tight hug. They looked at each other, smiling, before walking around the corner of the school, disappearing behind the brick building.

Lyon frowned. He recalled Jellal's words, how he said he was trying to win Ultear's trust, permanently. And Erza and Gray were basically a thing...He shook his head. _Something isn't right._

* * *

Natsu looked down the hallway, jumping to see above the mass of people walking to third hour. He jumped one last time, seeing just the person he wanted at her locker. "Lucy!" he called, jumping in the air.

Lucy looked right at him, smiling as she waved back. "Hey," she greeted as he walked towards her. "What's up?" She was cheerful today, and that wasn't by accident: she had decided over the weekend that she would stop overthinking Natsu. She knew he was oblivious to most things, but he was also a teenage boy- if there was something between them, he would let her know, not leave her in the dark. And it worked- she wasn't spending all her time worrying about interaction they had.

He laughed. "I'm pretty sure I failed that pop quiz, but that's not what I needed." He looked at her, frowning slightly. "Can I ask you something?"

Lucy looked at him warily. "Look, if this is about me finding your back itch again, I think you'd better ask Gajeel instead- "

"No, no, not that! I told you that went away!" Natsu covered, shaking his head. "Have you gotten a present for Levy's birthday next week?"

"Of course! Actually, I bought her several." she smiled proudly. "Have you?"

"Well, that's the thing. You wanna help me find one?"

"I don't know, Natsu, I have a lot to do tonight- " She yelped as Natsu slumped over, planting his hands on her shoulders. "What- what are you doing?!"

"Please, Luce! I waited too long, and I have a bunch of ideas but I don't know what to pick, and- " He looked up at her. "Do you know how hard it is to shop for girls?"

 _Typical._ she thought, recalling that Natsu had given her her birthday present a week after the day. She sighed, nodding. "Alright. We'll go tomorrow." She pushed his hands off, standing him up. "What were you thinking of getting?"

"Yay!" Natsu cheered. "Well, I was thinking she likes books, right? So I'd get her a book. But knowing her she probably has every book, because she _is_ Levy, so- "

"What about me?"

The two turned to see Levy had joined them. Lucy widened her eyes, greeting her friend. "Nothing! How are you?" she covered.

Levy smiled, oblivious to the conversation she had walked into. "Pretty busy, actually. I feel like I haven't seen you guys."

"Yeah, that's because you've been hanging out with Gajeel damn near every day of the week!" Natsu pointed out.

Both girls turned to him, jaws dropped. "What?!" Lucy gasped, and turned to Levy. "And you didn't tell me?!"

"It's not like that!" Levy hissed, leaning forward. But she sighed, nodding slowly. "...But yes. We've been...hanging out."

"Oh my god!" Lucy squealed, grabbing her friend's hands. "I'm so happy, that's great!"

Both Natsu and Levy glared at her. "You know we hate it when you do that." Natsu told her, massaging his ears.

Lucy pouted. "I've been told that so many times…" She shook her head, turning back to Levy. "Wait, does this mean you've been hanging out? On _school nights?_ "

Levy blushed as she nodded. "Yes. School nights too." Her eyes widened as she saw Lucy about to squeal. "-But for homework! Or videogames. But mostly homework!" She clasped her hands together. "We get along really well."

"Aw!" Lucy held a hand over her heart. "So that means the era of 'no feelings' Gajeel is over, huh?" she asked excitedly.

Levy's smile faltered. "I mean, I'd like to think so, but…" She shrugged. "He's acting normal. You know, no emotions, no feelings."

"Wait, really? But you make him so nervous and flustered all the time." Natsu snickered, "And trust me, nervous Gajeel, unlike angry-because-I-misplaced-his-mechanical-pencils Gajeel, is difficult to achieve."

Levy shrugged again. "I don't know. I feel like I'm looking for commitment, you know?" She held her hands out. "But don't get me wrong, I'm happy."

"Commitment?" Lucy asked.

"Y'know, something solid." She tilted her head in thought. "I'd like to see him step outside his box."

* * *

Lyon looked around their lunch table uneasily. "That's what I saw." he spoke, finished telling everyone about how he saw Erza and Jellal earlier that morning. He shook his head. "But they've both grown a lot since the breakup, so I'm sure it was nothing."

Mira frowned. "It's still weird though."

"I don't like it." Natsu agreed, scrunching his nose.

"It doesn't make sense, either," Levy added, "They didn't have much to talk about before, so what would they have to talk about now? Especially if they're with other people."

Lucy shook her head. "I hope everything's okay…"

Gray arrived at their table, sliding in next to Cana. "Hey guys, Erza here yet?" he asked excitedly.

Gajeel shook his head. "Not yet."

"Good," Gray smiled, leaning forward. "Because I want you guys to know first."

Cana gasped, putting a hand on her chest. "Oh my god, are you pregnant?"

Gray swatted her arm. "Dumb joke." he spoke, and turned to everyone else. "Guys, seriously. This is really weird, but…" He put his hands on the table. "I think I like Erza."

Lucy was the first one to react, squealing loudly. "AH! More things that make me happy!" She suddenly frowned, seeing everyone cover their ears. "It isn't _that_ bad…" she murmured, slumping in her seat.

"I'm with Luce! Minus the squeal, of course." He reached over, smacking Gray's back. "All I can say is it's about time."

"I guess our work finally paid off." Mira winked, exchanging a proud nod with Cana.

Gray scoffed. "Yeah, right. You guys were too frickin obvious."

The entire table stared at him in shock. "We- what?!" Mira gasped.

"Yeah, what?!" Cana added.

"Come on. Really?" Gray scoffed again.

"Yes really. You're one of the most oblivious people I know!"

"You guys weren't sneaky at all. I'm sure Natsu could have figured it out too." He dodged the pink haired boy's fist. "I mean, I'll give you credit for getting the ball rolling, but…" He snickered. "You guys are _way_ too extra about these things."

"Well, so much for that." Mira mumbled, slumping over the table.

"Damn." Cana chuckled to herself. "You learn well, Fullbuster."

"Wait, wait." Levy interrupted. "Gray, I'm really happy for you." She turned to everyone else. "But what about what Lyon saw this morning?"

Lyon sighed, "Yeah, you should probably know." He explained how he saw Erza and Jellal this morning.

Gray frowned. "But at the dinner Jellal and Ultear were- "

"Right, basically dating. I mean I didn't see them," He shuddered, recalling that his late arrival only gave him a 'friendly drive' with Jellal, "but Jellal is super committed to her."

"And Erza's really committed to you, if you didn't already know." Lucy added, turning to Gray. "I've never seen her put any guy at so much importance."

Lyon nodded. "Which is why I'm sure them talking wasn't anything serious, but you should probably know."

Gray frowned. It didn't make sense: she and Jellal hadn't spoken since their breakup, and she had talked about how she was done with him...and Jellal, he had moved on too... Gray shook his head. _Maybe Lyon saw someone else…_ He looked around. "Well, what am I supposed to do now?"

Gajeel shook his head. "Nothin. Keep doing what you're doing, it's probably fine."

"Good afternoon, everyone." Erza greeted, arriving at their table. She sat across from Gray, smiling as she looked around. "Did I miss anything?"

Gray opened his mouth, about to ask if what Lyon had seen was true, but Cana cut him off. "Not much." she responded.

As everyone else began talking, Gray turned to Cana, frowning: _what was that for?_ If he was going to act on Erza, he might as well start with the truth.

But Cana gave him a look: _not here, not now._ She was right: if he really wanted to know, it was something he had to ask on their own time.

* * *

Ultear rolled her eyes, walking through the usual post-school hallway traffic. "Lyon, I highly doubt that any of that is true." she told him, scoffing.

"But it is!" Lyon protested, trailing after her. "I'm telling you, Jellal took me in his car and threatened my life! And it was for a good reason, but…" He frowned, seeing Ultear struggle not to laugh. "I'm pretty sure I could have died!"

"Yeah right. I'm sure Jellal didn't do that. You're salty that you had to wash everyone's dishes."

"But he _did_! Jeez, it's like no one here cares for my well-being…" he mumbled.

"That's because you're not talking to the right person. Have you told Meredy yet?"

"Hell no! She would laugh and talk about 'how nice Jellal is' and would not know that that is a _lie_!"

"You guys are hanging out right now, right?" Lyon nodded. "Well, if what you're saying _is_ true, you better find Meredy now. If Jellal finds out you made her wait too long after school…" She inhaled sharply. "You might wish you left eighth hour early to meet up with her."

Lyon widened his eyes. "Oh, fuck. Where's her locker?"

"Down there, turn left, fifth on the right." Ultear pointed down the hall. "I- hey!" she exclaimed as Lyon grabbed her arm, pulling her down the hall with him. "Lyon, I need to leave!"

"I don't care!" he told her, dragging her with him. "If Jellal shows up and you're with me, he'll leave me alone."

Ultear held in a laugh. She already knew how paranoid Lyon was going to be: _maybe telling him that wasn't such a good idea._ "I was kidding, stupid. He won't be down there, we're meeting at his car."

"I don't care. You're coming with me either way, mainly because I already forgot where you said Meredy's locker was- "

"-It's right here!" Ultear interrupted. They stopped in front of the locker, seeing that they were the only ones there.

Lyon turned to her, giving her a sheepish expression. "Right, I knew that." he chuckled.

Ultear rolled her eyes. "Anyway, as I was saying, I have to meet Jellal, so I'll be going now." She turned to leave.

"Where are you going? He's right there!" Lyon told her, pointing past her.

She followed his finger, seeing that Jellal was, in fact, at the end of the hallway. He was walking, before turning the corner and going down a staircase. "Oh." Ultear remarked, slightly surprised. _Why would he be over there? We parked on the other side of school today…_ "Well, I'll see you later, then."

"Yeah, see ya. And talk to him, will you? Put in a good word for me!"

"Yeah right." Ultear laughed, and walked in the direction Jellal went. _Maybe he forgot something in 8th hour..._ she thought. She walked down the staircase, stepping into the hall. Jellal was in the middle of the hallway, turned away from her. He was talking to someone in front of him. Ultear almost called him, when she suddenly stopped, seeing who he was talking to.

She frowned, watching as Erza and Jellal continued talking, laughing casually. _Why would he be with her?_ It suddenly dawned on her that while she and Jellal talked about their feelings, they didn't talk about her...She shook her head. _It's nothing._ she assured herself. She mustered up a smile, stepping forward. "Jellal!" she called.

Jellal spun around, and her expression faltered- it was obvious that he was surprised she was there. She frowned, strange sense of deja vu waving over her. But then he smiled, giving Ultear a small wave. He put a hand on Erza's arm, saying something to her. She nodded, and walked down the other stairway, out of sight. He turned back around, smiling as he walked towards Ultear. "Hey." he greeted.

"I thought we were meeting outside?" Ultear said as he reached her.

"Yeah, I was just on my way, but I ran into Erza." he explained as they walked out the doors.

"And? What was that about?"

"Just talking." He looked up at the sky above them. "Our relationship ended on a bad note, so...we talked. To...make sure things were fine."

She looked up at him cautiously, worried she would see something that would confirm the same suspicion she always had with him: that he was again, not over Erza. But his expression remained the same. She almost sighed in relief: _nothing to worry about_. "That's oddly mature of you." she joked, wrapping her arm around his.

"What can I say, you might be worth losing my immature ways." he laughed as they walked down the sidewalk, interlacing his hand in hers.

* * *

Hibiki approached his car, whistling as he twirled his keys around his finger. He was having an oddly good day so far. He looked up at the shining sun, smiling. He turned to the driver's seat side, ready to go home, when he suddenly stopped: leaning against the door was Cana, arms crossed.

He smirked, walking towards her. "Excuse me, beautiful, but you're in front of my door."

Cana, on the other hand, wasn't in such a good mood. "Yeah? Too bad. Your cheap ass 'moves' won't work on me, like those other girls."

Hibiki chuckled. "Okay, I know you're mad at me, but I really do have to get home- "

"You either give me the keys or stay here and listen." she told him, oddly serious.

He raised his eyebrows. "Ookay, I'll listen." he agreed, crossing his arms.

"Good, I'm glad." She pointed at him. "So, who drugged you so much that you started acting like a completely different person?"

He almost laughed. "What are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about." He gave her a blank shrug. "The girls!"

"Oh."

"'Oh?' That's all? Well, I'll give you a little more than 'oh,' Hibiki Lates." Cana stepped towards him. "You think that the minute you and I end things you can go out with whatever floozy girl- "

"But you went out with that guy- "

"You're _listening,_ right?" she glared. "I've seen you out with a bunch of different girls, and I…" she paused.

Hibiki raised his eyebrows, leaning towards her. "Hold up. Are you...jealous?"

Cana looked up at him, cheeks red. "What?! Am not!"

"Holy shit, you are!" He laughed lightly. "The great Cana Alberona was jealous of some girls!" he teased.

"Okay, maybe I am, but…" She crossed her arms tightly. "You're different. And I don't like it."

"Cana, I'm exactly the same. I used to go out with different girls all the time. Until I met you, that is."

She laughed this time, shaking her head. "That's quite an honor."

"So? What are we gonna do about this?"

"Yknow, I used to be too proud to admit things like this. But you changed me too." She paused, looking up at him. "So, I want to be with you." she told him, her voice as strong as she felt. "Really."

"I was hoping you'd say that." he smiled, pulling her closer. "Because I'd really like that too."

* * *

u g h sometimes editing on this website is hard because I forget things don't automatically save like google docs. but it's all good, because I'm excited for GRAYZA WEEK ahhhhh. And yes, I will be updating this story while posting my Grayza Week submissions! Be on the lookout for both ;) Much love

-Pinky


	16. Honest Attempt

Omg I've been so productive with writing lately, but only because it's Grayza week and Grayza week makes my heart SOAR *v* If you're not caught up with GW I strongly suggest you 1. do 2. look up 'grayza week' on tumblr and check out everyone's stuff! Anyway, here's 16!

* * *

"Okay, we're here!" Cana smiled, parking her car. She turned around excitedly. "Take off the blindfold!"

Erza, in the backseat, nodded as she unwound the blindfold around Levy's eyes. "You can open your eyes." she smiled.

The blue haired girl readjusted her headband, rubbing her temples. "I still don't understand why you had to blindfold me from my doorstep to here." she muttered, eyes still slightly closed.

"Uh, because you're the birthday girl, duh!" Cana scoffed, and clapped her hands. "So, what do you think?"

Levy blinked her eyes into focus, looking around them. Her face broke into a smile as she recognized her surroundings. "Oh my…" She turned to her friends. "Guys, you shouldn't have!" She smiled brightly. "Blue Pegasus is my favorite restaurant!"

"A second 'duh.' We know you can't resist their fondue." Lucy laughed, hugging her friend.

"And tonight's live music night, and we know how much you love the bands that come in!" Mira added, smiling from the passenger seat.

Levy looked at them, tears forming in her eyes. "Aw, guys! I don't know what to- " She was suddenly interrupted when a dull thud sounded on the window. The girls all jumped, seeing Natsu's face pressed against the glass.

"Get your grimy hands off!" Cana shouted, smacking her window in response.

"Hurry up then, I'm hungry!" Natsu complained, muffled against the glass.

"Well, present time will have to wait till later." Erza sighed, and opened the door. "Shall we?" They all nodded, filing out of Cana's car.

"Happy birthday Levy!" the boys greeted, standing outside Gray's black car.

"Thanks, guys." Levy smiled as they all walked into the restaurant.

Gajeel followed everyone inside, when he felt a hand on his shoulder, holding him back. He spun around, alarmed, only to see that Natsu was behind him. He frowned at his friend. "What are you doing."

The pink haired boy looked at him with wide eyes. "So you and Levy, huh?"

Hearing her name Gajeel froze, feeling himself stand taller. "Uh...what about her?" he asked.

"You've been hanging out a lot?"

 _Where was he going with this?_ "...I guess. A few times. Well, more than a few. I guess."

"Ah, yeah. She seems pretty happy about it."

Gajeel shrugged. "Yeah, sure, it's whatever."

Natsu scoffed. "Wow, 'whatever?' Nevermind, she was right."

Gajeel rolled his eyes. "Okay, where the fuck are you going with this- "

"You guys may hang out a lot now, but she's not _actually_ happy about it."

He frowned. "She's...she's not?!"

"Well, sorta. She's happy, sure. But she said she feels like you're still indifferent about her."

Gajeel snorted. "Sounds exactly like her."

"Well, maybe we can change it. Did you get her a present?"

"Uh, yeah."

"So? What is it?!"

Gajeel raised his brow in suspicion. He _had_ gotten Levy a present, but why was Natsu, of all people, asking him about it? "Well, you know. It's an inside joke. Thing. Idea. It's whatever." he repeated, nervously cracking his knuckles under his chin. The image of the black leatherbound notebook he had bought Levy flashed in his mind.

"Wow, another 'whatever.' Hopefully it'll be alright."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"You guys have had a weird thing for the past few years, y'know? You gotta show some commitment."

He crossed his arms. "Are you, of all people, trying to give me advice- "

"Hey, I'm just saying: do something she won't expect. Surprise her. _Step outside your box._ " He gave Gajeel a pat on the shoulder, before going inside.

Gajeel held a hand to his face, annoyed. "Natsu, what- " But Natsu had already left. Gajeel stared after him, too shocked over their conversation to smack his friend on the head. _Outside my box?_ He shook his head. He didn't show emotions, didn't get in his feelings- that was simply who he was. _But Levy..._ He groaned in annoyance. _If she wasn't happy, then what was any of it for?_

* * *

"Hibiki!" Cana waved from their table to her boyfriend, who was walking through the restaurant while holding a tray of various drinks.

The honey haired boy looked over, eyes lighting up immediately. "Hey hey, who's this fine woman?" he laughed as he walked up to them, Cana planting a kiss on his cheek.

"Aww, that's so sweet!" Mira gushed, joyfully clapping her hands together. "To think you were screaming at each other last week."

"Yeah, well, you know I needed some character development." Hibiki winked, and nodded at them. "Nice table, huh?" he smiled proudly.

"Second one from the stage? I feel like I'm VIP." Levy laughed.

Cana patted Hibiki's arm. "Yeah, I guess you do a good job."

"Hey, do you know who's playing tonight?" Lyon asked.

Hibiki pursed his lips. "Actually, that's the problem. The lead singer that was supposed to sing is really sick, so they cancelled."

"No way! Do you have a backup?" Lucy asked.

Hibiki nodded. "They should be here late, but better late than never. We know there's a birthday in the house." He smiled at Levy, and turned to the rest of them. "Your food should be done by now. I'll be right back!" he spoke, walking away.

"Wow, Cana, you really lucked out. He's so nice." Levy smiled at the brunette.

Cana waved her off. " _I_ lucked out? Please, he was the one that lucked out with _me._ " she smirked, their table laughing in response.

Erza turned to Gray, who was sitting next to her. "Hey, are you okay?" she spoke softly.

The navy haired boy shook himself out of his thoughts, sitting up in his seat. "Yeah, what's up?" he asked.

She arched an eyebrow at him. "You seem out of it."

Gray tried not to falter under her gaze. Truthfully, he was- it had been a week, and he still hadn't had the courage to confront Erza about Jellal. He had tried talking to Ultear, and she told him it was nothing, but he felt like he had to do something himself. And he shouldn't be _that_ bothered by it, but… He nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

She smiled. "Well, good. I'm glad. Because I've been meaning to ask- "

"-Hey, have either of you seen Gajeel?" Levy interrupted, looking suspicious.

The two exchanged confused expressions. "Uh, I haven't, actually." Gray remarked, looking around.

"Yeah, and where's Natsu?" Lucy piped up. "I haven't seen either- "

"Ooh, we're sitting already? Great, I'm starving!" Natsu greeted, sitting next to Lucy.

"What? Where did you come from?!"

"Probably eating everyone's food." Gray remarked.

"I was not!" Natsu defended. "I was...going to the bathroom." He turned to Lucy, cupping a hand to her ear. "I got it covered."

Lucy frowned at him, confused. "Got what covered?"

"Gajeel and Levy?" He winked. "There's nothing to worry about, it's in the bag. You know, it was weird for me to talk to him like that, but I think he bought it."

He smiled at her but she only stared at him, still confused. "Riiiight….I'm going." Lucy replied, standing up.

"Ooh! To talk to _you know who_ , right?!" Natsu asked eagerly. "I'll come too!"

She chuckled slightly. "No. I'm going to the bathroom."

"Oh. Okay. _Gotcha._ " Natsu winked again.

She rolled her eyes. "Natsu, I'm not...whatever. I'll be back." She walked to back of the restaurant, shaking her head. _Why does he do these things..._

She reached the bathroom doors, about to go in, when she felt a hand clamp her shoulder. She jumped in surprise, spinning around. "Jeez, Gajeel, you scared me. What's up?" The black haired boy was staring at her intensely. So intensely that he almost looked...nervous. She frowned. "Are you alright?"

"I need your help." he spoke, eyes unblinking.

She looked into his eyes, seeing nothing but honesty. She nodded.

* * *

"Holy _wow._ That was…amazing." Levy breathed, leaning away from her now-empty plate.

Natsu nodded. "I'm sayin. I haven't had fifths of any meal since Mira's chocolate chip pie, and that's saying something."

"You nailed the restaurant choice, Cana." Gray complimented. Cana nodded, snapping her fingers in response.

"Good birthday, Levy?" Lyon smiled.

The blue haired girl nodded. "Perfect! And I'm really glad all you are here for it." Levy smiled at all of them.

"Did someone say birthday?" Hibiki announced, holding a small cake in his hands as he approached their table. Cheers erupted as he placed the dessert in front of Levy, who was smiling brightly.

Levy held her face joyfully. "Aww, guys!" she sighed. She smiled at all of them as they began singing an offkey 'Happy Birthday,' when the lights suddenly darkened. A hush fell over the restaurant. "Ooh, is this part of the birthday treatment?" Levy joked, turning to Hibiki.

Hibiki frowned, looking around. "Uh, not to my knowledge. But who knows, maybe- " The lights dimmed completely, the only stagelights on.

"Hey, the band's here?" Gray asked, cheering.

"Uh, I- I guess…"

The lights changed so that there was only a spotlight, shining on a man sitting in a chair. He was facing away from them, his large figure dominating the stage.

"Woo! Let's go!" Natsu cheered.

He held out his hand, another figure, a girl, joining him onstage. She was wearing a tights and leotard ensemble, complete with a set of bunny ears. She handed him a guitar, before running back offstage.

"Oh god." Erza widened her eyes.

Lyon shook his head. "This is either going to be really good or really bad."

The singer spun around, dressed in sunglasses and a white tux, complete with a red tie and white hat. "Shoobie do ba!" he scatted, before gruffly singing a blues tune.

"Oh my god." Levy breathed, not believing the sight in front of her.

"Holy shit." Gray added. "Is that- "

In front of them, onstage, was Gajeel. Everyone stared at the stage in shock. Cana turned around to her boyfriend. " _This_ was the backup band?" She smiled, squeezing his arm. "That's so cute! Especially for Levy's birthday!" She heard Gajeel suddenly sing louder, flinching as he did so. "...Maybe not _as_ cute."

Hibiki shook his head. "Yeah, no...that's _definitely_ not the backup band."

Gajeel, however, was completely unaware of the comments from his audience. "The birthday girl, yeah, she's small, like a small sea creature. A shrimp! Sha la la!" He pulled out his harmonica, continuing his song.

"Oh, fuck." Natsu realized, finally piecing it all together. _Levy's gonna kill me! And then Gajeel will too!_ He cupped his hands around his mouth. "THAT'S NOT WHAT I HAD IN MIND!" he shouted to the black haired boy. "ABORT, ABORT!"

As if on cue, the restaurant lights had come on. Gajeel was immediately ushered off the stage by a crowd of employees. One took the microphone, looking apologetically out over the crowd. "Sorry about that, folks. That was the... _opening_ number." He closed his eyes, shaking his head. "Regardless, please welcome tonight's featured band!" The audience cheered politely as a jazz band took the stage.

Their table was still staring in shock while blues music played around them. "Holy crap." Lyon breathed, looking at the rest of them. "I can't believe we witnessed that."

"Did that even…?" Erza stammered.

Mira looked at Levy, seeing nothing but pure shock on her face. _Oh no._ Panicked, she reached over, hugging her friend tightly. "H...appy brithday Levy!" she cheered weakly. _Dear god, let's save this night...somehow.  
_

* * *

"Are you sure you can hold all that?" Cana asked, calling out her front door. The group had returned from their dinner to Cana's house to finish opening Levy's gifts.

Levy nodded, shifting the gifts in her arms. "Yeah, I think I got it just right. Besides, I'll dump em on Lucy as soon as I get in the car." she responded, flicking her head to Lucy's car at the end of the driveway, the blonde already inside.

"Yeah, that sounds good." Cana laughed, and hugged the smaller girl. "Happy birthday, again! I'm glad you liked it."

"It was great. Thank you for doing all this, Cana!" Levy thanked her. After the two exchanged goodbyes Cana went back inside, and Levy began making her way down to Lucy's car.

"Yo, Shrimp."

Levy turned around, widening her eyes as she saw Gajeel walking towards her. She nervously shifted the presents in her arms. It had been a couple hours, but she was still so in shock from his earlier performance that she hadn't even mentioned it. "Oh, Gajeel. Hello." she greeted.

He put a hand to the back of his head. "I didn't really say happy birthday earlier." he spoke gruffly. "So, uh, happy birthday." he muttered.

"Th-thank you, Gajeel. That's…very nice." she responded as awkwardly. She could barely meet his eyes, the image of him singing in the tux flashing in her brain. She gulped. _Oh god..._

"Um, yeah. You're welcome. Yeah." he nodded. "Oh, I got you somethin." He pulled a wrapped gift from behind him, handing out to her. "I, uh, didn't want the others seeing. They get too loud, ya know?"

"Wow, that's so kind of you!" she smiled brightly. "I love the…" She looked at the present, seeing the brown wrapping paper and hot pink bow. "...presentation." she finished, holding in her laughter.

He rubbed the back of his head bashfully. "Oh, yeah, I used what I had, and I figured girls like pink, so uh…" He gave her the gift, adding to the tower of presents in her arms. He took a step back. "Well, okay. Uh, see ya later, I guess."

"Yeah, see you later." Levy responded, watching as he walked back to the front door. She walked slowly to Lucy's car, before turning around. "Gajeel!" she called. The black haired boy turned around. "Thank you." she smiled.

* * *

Gray brought his car to a stop, stopping outside a house that was beginning to be familiar to him. "Okay." he spoke, unlocking the door for Erza, who was next to him.

Erza smiled, turning to Gray. "Thank you, again, for the ride."

Gray waved her off. "It's fine. We live close enough anyway, it was logical."

She stared at him, feeling his strange behavior from earlier. "Gray, are you sure you're alright? You've been acting strange all night." Although she had tried talking about it earlier, Gray had been spacey around her for the remainder of the night.

He sighed internally- of course she had her suspicions. He had been relatively quiet throughout dinner, and even the car ride was mostly Erza talking. Of course, it was because of the whole Jellal thing and how Erza hadn't mentioned it at all... _It's just weird._

He looked at her, nervously trying to phrase his question. "So hypothetically, if you heard something weird about someone and it worries you, and instead of going to that someone you go to everyone else first, and they all say it's fine, but you're still worried, would you confront that person, or would you be considered paranoid?" He held out his hands. "Hypothetically speaking."

"Um, what?" Erza gave him a worried look. "If anything's going on, you can tell me."

He shook his head. "You know what? It's nothing, just a stupid thing. I'm okay. I just..." He stared at her, serious expression on his face. "You're one of my closest friends. And I...uh, care about you."

She raised her brows. "Oh. Of course. I, um, care about you. As well. You're a very good friend too."

His face broke into a smile. It was probably the most forward they had been...ever. "Hey, you wanna hang out next weekend?"

"Sure. Um, just us?"

"Uh, yeah. Sure."

Erza smiled, nodding eagerly. "Yes. I would like that."

"Okay. See you at school, then." Gray smiled, as Erza began walking to her door. He waited until she was inside, before punching a fist into the air. _What a dumb thing to be worried about._ he thought, his worries over her and Jellal disappearing completely. He drove away, smiling to himself. _We'll be just fine._

* * *

Next chap will hopefully be up late tonight! I'm trying to post them asap, and with Grayza week I think that'll be good. Leave a review if you enjoyed!

-Pinky


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